Sky's The Limit
by emmadactryl
Summary: My last AF fic for the moment. Set after Price of Freedom. Amber's on her first solo mission with MI5. Sorry but I really can't write summaries. Let's just say there should be quite a bit of action and some romance later on. First person, Amber's POV.
1. Tell Me The Truth

**A/N This fic will be written similar to the style used by James Patterson in Maximum Ride. Through writing Price of Freedom, I discovered that writing Amber in first person is really easy and rather enjoyable. No idea why- although it could be something to do with her personality and the way I usually write- but I thought it'd be interesting to try and write a fic from almost solely her point of view. So, back to James Patterson's writing style. Any first person bits in from Amber's point of view and third person bits are just third person bits, though I'm still not sure whether I will be doing any third person parts or not. This fic will mostly centre on the mission Amber is on, though the rest of Alpha Force will be making an appearance throughout, particularly in later chapters. This fic will be kind of slow to get going, but expect quite a bit of action later in a few chapters.**

**Disclaimer: I own just the plot and characters other than Alpha Force, which belong solely to Chris Ryan. I also don't own any of the chapter titles as they are all the names of songs**

* * *

**Chapter One: Tell Me The Truth**

Li was just about wetting herself with excitement. As soon as she caught sight of me, Li let out a squeak and barrelled towards me. I had about three seconds until impact and all I could do was yell, 'Argh!' and cringe. Needless to say, that didn't stop her from crashing into me.

'Spill,' she gasped, grabbing my arm and dragging me towards her table. Two empty coffee mugs and a plate told me that Li had been waiting a while. And _patience_ wasn't exactly the first word that leapt to mind when Li Cheong was in question.

I collapsed into the chair opposite Li and regarded her freakishly eager expression with amusement. 'Well...' I began.

Before I could launch into a full recount of my morning, a waitress appeared at my left elbow. Mousy brown hair corkscrewing wildly in every direction, the waitress pasted a fake smile on her pale face and muttered, 'Ordering?'

'Sure,' I chirped pleasantly. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Li twitch impatiently. Oh well, she'd just have to wait.

'Ordering?' the waitress repeated a tad firmer than necessary.

Deciding to overlook her rather rude conduct, I said, 'Um...' and plucked the menu off the table. The waitress gave a sigh that Li echoed.

'Hurry up.' Li sounded exasperated.

'Yeah, yeah. I'll have a coffee and a toasted sandwich.' I replaced the menu and beamed at the waitress. She scowled, her pencil scribbling across her notepad like a demented spider trying to tap dance.

'That all?' she grunted.

'Yep.' I kept the smile on my face until her back was turned, then rolled my eyes and swivelled back to face Li.

'Now speak,' she said firmly.

I took a moment to gather my thoughts, drew a huge breath into my lungs and started talking about something which held no real excitement. At least not the amount of excitement Li was showing.

'Well, you already know where I was, right?' I said.

Now it was Li's turn to roll her eyes. 'Duh. With Harry. The big boss. Lord of All. At Headquarters.' She mad a _hurry up_ gesture with her right hand. 'Continue.'

'Right. So I was minding my own business, going through the contents of my refrigerator and cupboards to see what needed restocking when I got a call from Harry. He sounded a bit flustered and told me to- and this is his own words by the way- get my ass down there as there was an important and urgent matter to discuss.'

'And this matter was...?' Li prompted.

'A new mission for me.' I was starting to catch the enthusiasm bug. 'My first solo mission, Li. I'm going to miss working with you guys, but this is going to be really awesome.'

Li was either genuinely happy for me or a bloody good actress. 'That's great, Amber! What's your mission on? When do you start? Where will you be?'

I quickly flipped my hands up before Li drowned me with questions. 'Firstly, not too loud. You never know who's listening.' God, I felt so clichéd. Give me a trench coat, hat and dark sunnies and I was set. _The walls have ears_. 'Secondly, I don't know much about it. All Harry said was I'd be infiltrating a terrorist slash human trafficking slash drug dealing group that may or may not be linked to the subject of our last mission.'

Li's eyes narrowed. No doubt she was reliving certain moments from our last mission in Australia: the young girl who'd tried to escape being ripped apart by two lionesses; Paulo being framed for the murder of his roommate; the five of us being chased across the freaking desert by a brick-like man and his lackeys. Fun times.

'So you'll be around, then?' Li finally said, spinning her hand around on the word _around_.

I nodded. 'Not much is known about them, so Harry said I'm not to stress too much if I don't get an immediate result. Or any result at all,' I added as an afterthought.

Her curiosity satisfied, Li sat back. The grumpy waitress returned, dumped my plate and cup in front of me and sighed loudly when Li ordered another drink.

'She certainly won't be getting a tip,' Li muttered as the waitress flounced off. I chuckled and picked up my toasted sandwich.

For the next few minutes I chomped and Li sat, silent and still. I was about halfway through the second half of my sandwich when I looked up and saw the look on Li's face. Stifling a groan, I slowed my chews, trying to think of something to talk about that was _way_ away from that subject.

Too late.

'So, Amber,' Li began in her specially crafted _you-can-tell-me-anything_ tone. 'Spoken to Hex lately?'

I chewed slightly harder than required, wincing as my teeth cracked together. The question was innocent enough, but the underlying meaning was crystal clear.

There were a few reasons that I didn't really want to talk about _that_ particular topic: one, I wasn't exactly sure where things stood at the moment or where I wanted things to stand; two, Li had a habit of constantly hounding me for information; and three... I just didn't want to talk about it.

Looking around for either an escape route or, failing that, another topic to discuss, I cursed Li's craftiness. We were seated at a table in the back corner of the café. Even if I did manage to slip out of my seat, Li would have numerous opportunities to drag me back. Maybe she'd get the hint if I just said, 'I don't want to talk about it.'

'I don't want to talk about it,' I said in a firm but still friendly voice.

But Li had obviously had more than enough of my evasiveness. 'No, Amber,' she said in a voice that was equally firm though a tad less friendly. 'You are going to talk.' She gave a small smile and a bit of the harshness dropped out of her voice. 'I know something's up,' Li added with a pompous look,' and it's not good to bottle everything up. Though I've been telling you that for years and you've never listened.'

A memory of our first mission with MI5 flashed through my mind, in particular Li making some comments and me storming out of the flat. Maybe it _was_ time to get a few things off my chest. Well, one thing. I could trust Li not to say anything. Couldn't I?

'Fine,' I relented. 'Ask away.'

Li looked shocked. You could almost hear the cogs in her brain clicking away. A gigantic _WARNING_ would be flashing in her mind.

'You sure?' she ventured cautiously, still trying to decide whether I was joking, serious, or trying to distract her before making a run for it.

'Yep.' I swallowed the last bite of my sandwich, took a sip of my coffee and looked evenly at her. 'Ask away.'

'Alrighty.' Li recovered very quickly from her surprise and rubbed her hands together. I was already regretting my decision. Stupid peer pressure. 'Where to begin... Oh, most obviously- I _love_ my memory- is what I said to you last year true?'

Play dumb, play dumb, play dumb.

'Last year? What did you say?'

'We were in the flat and I asked you if Hex was the reason that you-'

'Oh, _that_.' My plan had just backfired right in my face. Trust Li to take the bit in her mouth and run with it.

'So...' Li urged, leaning slightly forward.

I shrugged nonchalantly and she grinned, taking my rather dismissive gesture as a _yes_.

'I knew it!' she enthused. 'That just about answers all my other questions as well.'

Relief. 'Great. So we're done?' I started to stand up but Li's look made me crash back into my chair.

'Two more questions. One, have you told anyone else about this?'

I shook my head, guessing that her next question would be _Do you plan on telling anyone else about this?_ The answer to that was obviously _no_. Hopefully that would double as a subtle yet easily understood hint.

But it was Li's turn to surprise me.

'What happened?' She was doing the scary leaning forward thing again, although this time her voice was soft and soothing.

This time it wasn't hard to play dumb; I didn't have a clue as to what she was talking about.

'What happened when?'

'End of our last mission.'

Oh. This was hard to answer because I wasn't exactly sure what _had_ happened. Something had changed, but as for what that was and where it left me, well... My guess was as good as a total stranger's.

'I really don't know,' I replied. 'It was all kinda... confusing.' I laughed but it sounded hollow, even to my ears. 'You know Hex.

Luckily, Li didn't press it. She obviously sensed that I was telling the truth. 'Ok. But if it was confusing' –she gave me a cheeky grin- 'you should ask Hex what he meant.'

'Argh,' I groaned, dropping my head on my arms folded on the table top. 'You don't ever let it go, do you?' I raised my head again and half frowned, half glared at Li. 'I don't give you the third degree over Paulo.'

Li just looked at me for a looooong moment.

'Hypocrite,' I muttered under my breath.

'At least we don't spend three quarters of the time we're together bickering over trivial crap. At least we're not completely blind. At least we're' -she searched for the right words, drumming her fingers on the tabel top- 'able to show affection towards each other in public.'

Li then changed topic and started rambling on about something or other, but I was only half listening. As painful as that conversation had been, it had really made me think. We weren't kids any more and nowadays 24 could easily be considered fairly old. Six of my friends from school were already married and four of those six had at least one kid. It was a terrifying prospect, though I had no idea why.

When I turned 15, I remember Uncle John joking about how I was halfway to 30. At my next birthday I was going to be halfway to 50. When life was put into the perspective, it seemed so short and almost insignificant.

I stayed at the café with Li for another half an hour before I left to go and attend to my grocery shopping and Li scampered off on some mysterious errand.

In aisle three- canned goods- my phone buzzed shrilly, earning me curious glances from fellow shoppers. _Ohhhhhh... How exciting! She's getting a phone call. _Please save me from the insanity.

'Yes?' I answered the phone in the usual breathless, slightly snappy tone of voice that everyone seems to use when grocery shopping. Highlight of my week.

'Amber. Sorry about this but we need you down here, pronto,' Harry said.

I sighed, eyeballing the pitiful contents of my trolley.

'Um, can't it wait half an hour?' I asked, me mentally running through the countless items I still had to buy.

Harry muttered, 'Hang on a tic,' and dropped the phone, judging by the clunk in my ear. I scowled at a can of lentils and imagined it was my boss while I waited for the phone to be picked up again.

'Sure,' Harry said finally, after three minutes of me toe tapping and pretending not to notice the weird looks I was getting. 'Half hour. But then we need you down here,' he added, applying quite a bit of force to the last four words.

''Kay,' I muttered, hanging up.

I finished my shopping in record time, foregoing some of the slightly less urgent items to make my deadline.

Threading through the typical London traffic on my way to Headquarters, I had time to ponder what could have caused Harry's sudden phone call. I'd spoken to him what, two, three hours ago. The urgent meeting no doubt had something to do with my upcoming mission, though what that exactly was remained a mystery.

Harry's office was on the fourth floor. The elevator was out of order- again- so I took the stairs.

As I reached the door, I stopped, hand hovering in front of the handle. Raised voices came from inside. I dropped my hand to my side and listened.

'A _terrorist_ group of all things. Need I remind you what happened the last two times we tackled that sort of organisation and that was with all five of us.' I frowned. The voice was painfully familiar, although the tone was different and the words slightly muffled by the wall. 'What the hell are you thinking?'

'I know things are rather informal around here,' said Harry- it had to be him- in a slightly strained voice, 'but I am still your boss.'

'You're also Amber's boss and yet you're sending her into-' I missed the rest of the sentence as the realisation of who was speaking set in. Bloody Hex.

'Look,' Harry said gently. 'I know how you feel about Amber and I know you worry about her, but she is capable, _overly_ capable, of handling this herself.' There was a slight pause before Harry continued: 'Trust me on this one. Trust _her._'

Time for my entrance. I tiptoed back up the hall and clunked my way towards the office again. The voices immediately stopped and I swung open the door with as much enthusiasm as I could muster.

'Hello!' I exclaimed brightly, collapsing into a chair. Out of the corner of my eye I caught Hex's astonished and slightly worried look, most likely wondering if I'd heard any of his argument with Harry. Harry obviously hadn't told him I was coming in, just like he hadn't told me Hex would be here. Our boss had an annoying habit of leaving out or forgetting to tell us important bits of information.

Before anyone could say anything else, the door was shoved open again and Li, Paulo and Alex barged into the room. Harry didn't even wait for them to sit down before starting to talk.

'Alright. First of all, I want to clear a few things up.'

A blind person across the street wouldn't have missed the far-from-subtle look he threw in Hex's direction. I stared at the ground, wondering how Harry would approach this. Surprisingly, he took a more...inconspicuous route.

'This is far from a solo mission. Not because you're not capable, Amber' –another glance towards Hex that again was noticed by the entire room- 'but because these four would get bored sitting around here with nothing to do but dull, monotonous paperwork to do.'

My friend's faces visibly brightened, especially Li's.

'So what are we doing then?' Alex asked. 'Backup?'

Harry tilted his head. 'Kind of. Amber will be the only one in the thick of it, but as the group is thought to base itself around here, we can have you lot trailing around, keeping an eye out and listening for anything.'

'Can I ask why Amber's been chosen?' Paulo asked. The question might have sounded envious, but, coming from Paulo, it just sounded curious.

'Ah...' Harry actually looked embarrassed and I immediately started to panic.

'What?' I squawked.

'We do know that the head of this "group" is a guy called Jasper. No idea what his last name is, but he's head honcho fella and runs the whole shebang.' Harry stopped talking. He still looked guilty and embarrassed.

'And...' Li prompted.

'Amber' –Harry turned to face me- 'you're one of the only America-born officers we have here and the only female one.' I suddenly saw where this was going. 'Let's just say that Jasper has a bit of a... preference for... your sort of person.'

While his last sentence could have been described as inconclusive, Harry had no need to elaborate.

'Great,' I heard someone mutter; I had a feeling I knew where _that_ comment came from.

'So I'm going to be taking that sort of angle with this mission then.' I said it as a statement, not a question, fully aware that the atmosphere in the room was bordering on Antarctic. Harry was receiving looks of shock and I was getting a mixture of shock, worry and confusion.

'Yeah,' Harry murmured, seeming surprised I was taking this announcement in my stride. I really didn't see what all the fuss was about; misleading a dangerous criminal so he'd let incriminating evidence slip out. Easy peasy.

Harry had put on his serious face, an expression we saw so little it was like he had an identical twin that didn't see life as a joke and who made a guest appearance whenever the situation called for it.

'Now, Amber,' Harry cautioned. 'This sort of mission- where you have to get close to the target- can end badly. It's not overly common, though it _has_ happened with junior officers such as yourself.'

'What are you talking about?' I asked, completely bewildered as to what Harry was implying.

'If you end up falling for this guy- "crossing to the Dark Side" as we've nicknamed it- things could end _very_ badly for you.'

'Why have you got a nickname if this isn't that common?' I asked lightly. Truthfully, I wasn't that worried, for the obvious reason, but also because in my mind I knew that Jasper- whoever he was- would always be the enemy, no matter if I fell in love with him or not. I doubted whether my conscious would let me run away to the Bahamas with, regardless of the circumstances.

Harry had ignored or not heard my last comment, though my bet was on ignored. He was riffling through a stack of papers beside his right elbow, a frown wrinkling his forehead.

'Ah ha!' he crowed. I think he was just super pleased he'd actually found something amongst all his junk. 'Jasper likes to hang about the Triumph- that posh bar with all the twinkling lights- of a Saturday night, so once night falls I think you should get down there and mingle.'

'Right,' I murmured, amazed and a bit freaked out by the pace that events were moving.

'We're putting you into a new flat, just to disconnect you from your actual life, so that'll take up the rest of today.' Harry looked at my friends. 'You guys could give her a hand, though I've organised for a couple of mates of mine to help out too.' Hex and Alex were eyeballed. 'I want you two at the Triumph tonight, checking things out.' He looked at me again. 'The most dangerous stage is first up, while Jasper figures out whether he can trust you or not. Pile on the charm, flirt like you have no morals...' He shrugged. 'Do whatever it takes to get him to trust and accept you. It'll get easier.'

I stared at my boss, mulling over what he'd just told me. Despite the fact that I'd either by watched by my friends- who'd I'd trust with my life without a second thought- or senior MI5 officers- who were trained for events just like this- it still felt like I'd been thrown in the deep end. And the pool was filled with sharks.


	2. Saturday Night's Alright For Fighting

**Chapter Two: Saturday Night's Alright For Fighting**

The Triumph wasn't nearly as posh as Harry made out. I'd gone for casual yet not under-dressed and seemed to fit in with the rest of the crowd.

Perched at the bar, I sipped my drink and pondered my mission. I'd been given a new flat, slightly less than I was used to admittedly, and a new job. Daniel Green, the owner, manager, etc. of Green's Goods- bad name but good corner store- was an old friend of Harry's and was more than willing to give me a job as a cashier for the duration of the mission. Whenever that would start and end.

When my mission started in earnest was solely up to Jasper. I could flaunt it as much as I wanted but in the end it'd his choice and his choice alone as to whether I'd be accepted into the inner circle.

Someone appeared at my elbow and I looked slightly sideways to see who it was. Alex picked up the beer that had just been set in front of him, dropped some coins onto the counter and left, heading to his table. I fully expected to see Hex seated next to him and was mildly surprised when I caught sight of him in the opposite corner of the room. Then again, it would make sense not to be seen together; it could prove very handy later on.

I'd been sitting and sipping for a good twenty minutes and beginning to get frustrated when a tall, blonde-haired man slipped onto the stool beside me.

'Hi,' he said with a smile. 'I'd buy you a drink, but...' He pointed at my still half-filled glass.

I smiled back, more out of appreciation of my good luck than anything else.

'Jasper Price,' he added, holding his hand out.

I shook it saying, 'Annie Hamilton.'

We'd agreed- or, more accurately _Harry_ had told me- that my name had to be completely changed just in case Jasper was more connected with the centres in Australia than we thought. He'd gone for something that should be easy to remember yet not obviously connected. Amber Middleton, Annie Hamilton.

Jasper's eyebrows had risen when he heard my accent. 'You're American?'

'Yeah. I travelled around up until I started school, then I was at boarding school in New York.'

'How long have you lived here then? Or are you on holiday?' Jasper sipped his beer, all the while keeping his gaze fixed on my face. He was very sure of himself and it was rather disconcerting.

'No, no. I'm not on holiday. I've been living here for about 18 months or so, though I've just moved into the area.

Jasper nodded. 'Ah. I thought you were new around here.' He reached out and touched my cheek and I forced down my shiver, thinking how spot on Harry had got Jasper's personality. 'I would have noticed someone as pretty as you on my patch.

Not really certain on a response, I just smiled again and drunk a bit more of my drink.

The rest of my evening passed in a blur. Wanting a clear head now and a hangover free day tomorrow, I declined any offered alcohol, sticking to soft drinks. Despite my earlier nervousness around Jasper, I found myself becoming more and more comfortable and at ease around him. Jasper sure knew how to turn on the charm and it was hard to imagine him running an illegal business. The fact was, he was just such a nice person. You'd expect- and this was a very stereotypical thought- that criminals would be horrible, evil-minded people without a caring, friendly bone in their body. Jasper was a walking example of how wrong that was.

The mini-fight kicked off at about eleven o'clock. Jasper was still sitting next to me and we were chatting about something or other when this big, beefy guy loomed up next to Jasper. The beefy guy looked at me and muttered something under his breath. I didn't hear it, but Jasper sure did.

'You got a problem, buddy?'

Beefy smirked. 'No, but you sure do.' He looked my way again and I started to assume that his comment might have been slightly prejudice.

'Back off,' Jasper growled. He slid off the stool and took hold of my arm, steering me towards the door. Beefy followed close behind. Half the people in the bar were looking our way now. Hex and Alex looked confused, unsure if I was leaving of my own will or not and debating about intervening.

Beefy made another comment and Jasper stopped walking. He spun around to face Beefy and then it was all a bit hazy. I stepped forwards, intending to pull Jasper away before a fight started, and suddenly I was staggering backwards, clutching my nose with blood streaming through my fingers.

Beefy grinned. 'Oops,' he said, sarcasm positively dripping.

Jasper took advantage of his distraction and smashed a fist into Beefy's side, following it up with a punch to the chest. Beefy collapsed and Jasper kicked his arm out the way, grabbing a pile of serviettes off a table and making his way back to me.

'Here.' He handed me the serviettes which I clamped gratefully on my nose.

Outside, Jasper called a cab and the flow from my nose slowed and then stopped. The cool night air woke me up a bit and helped clear my head. I hopped in the cab feeling slightly better.

Jasper gave me a worried look. 'Are you ok? Do you need-'

'No,' I interrupted, guessing what the rest of his sentence would be. 'I'm fine. Thanks,' I added, stifling a yawn. 'I had a great time, well, apart from the end bit. We should go out again soon.'

This was it. The moment of truth. Would he say yes and give my mission the boost it needed, or would he brush my suggestion off?

'Sure. I'd like that. What's your phone number? Maybe we could have some dinner tomorrow night.'

The cabbie sighed as I rummaged in my handbag for a bit of paper and a pen. After scribbling down the number, I gave the paper to Jasper and pulled my door shut. He waved and stepped back. as the cab pulled away, I looked back and shivered. Jasper was half-hidden in shadows and his eyes seemed as black as coal. He looked very, very dangerous.

* * *

My first thought when I woke up the next morning was, _Where am I?_ Then I rolled over and remembered that I was in my new flat. That was when I became aware of a clattering coming from the kitchen. I froze. Someone was in the flat.

Still dressed in my clothes from the night before, I unplugged the lamp and gripped it tightly, making a mental note to buy a baseball bat and tuck it in my wardrobe.

As I tiptoed out of the bedroom and down the hall to the kitchen the clattering stopped. The smell of frying bacon wafted towards me and I hesitated, wondering if burglars usually cooked when on the job.

The phantom clattered suddenly emerged from the kitchen, appearing right in front of me.

'Bloody hell,' I snapped, lowering the lamp from above my head. 'I thought I was being burgled.'

Hex chuckled, not at all concerned I'd nearly brained him with a lamp. 'Do burglars _normally_ cook breakfast for their victims?'

'You have to admit it's a possibility,' I muttered as we walked back into the kitchen.

Hex laughed again and set a plate of food down in front of me. I looked at it suspiciously.

'Just eat,' he sighed, sitting down across from me with his own food. 'I promise you there's no poison in it. Or on it.'

'I wasn't thinking about that,' I admitted, starting to cut my toast.

Hex swallowed his mouthful and looked at me. 'Why the weird face then?'

'I was wondering how you got in here' –I gestured with a fork at the flat's immediate area- 'and why you were cooking.'

Shrugging, Hex answered: 'You left the door unlocked- not a very smart move by the way- and you looked so crap last night I thought I'd drop by and check on you. You were still asleep when I came in, but I figured you'd wake up once you smelt my delicious cooking and beside' –he grinned yet again- 'I was hungry and I can't be bothered shopping.'

I rolled my eyes and didn't answer, concentrating on eating my breakfast. Until recently, Hex- and Li for that matter- appearing uninvited for breakfast, lunch or occasionally dinner wasn't that out of the ordinary. I sighed inwardly. Then we'd gone on that last mission and things were suddenly awkward. Why, I really didn't have much of a clue, though to I think it had something to do with the fact that things were only half, a third, a _quarter_, out in the open and neither of us was really sure what we wanted to happen.

We ate in silence, the casual atmosphere giving way to the usual awkward one.

'I'll clean up,' I volunteered hastily as soon as I'd finished eating.

Hex shook his head and stood up as well. 'No, it's ok. I cooked.'

'Which is all the more reason I should clean up,' I insisted, plates and cutlery already in my hands.

But Hex wasn't taking no for an answer. 'Well I'll help then.'

I ran the water and squirted some detergent into the sink. The bubbles rose up and I turned the water off, dunking the fingers of my left hand into the water to test the temperature. Perfect.

I washed each item deliberately and slowly, trying to use up as much time as possible, desperate for an escape from another awkward conversation, or worse- an awkward silence. Luckily, just as I finished, the phone rang.

Sliding to a stop, I snagged the phone off the hook and pressed it to my ear.

'Hello?' I said.

'Annie, it's Jasper.'

I sank onto the couch. 'Oh. Hey, Jasper.'

'I didn't wake you up, did I?' he asked worriedly, picking up on the weary tone in my voice.

'No,' I quickly reassured him. 'I've been up for a while. Had breakfast and everything.'

'Good. Listen, I was just double checking we were still having dinner tonight.'

'Of course.' Hex was hovering just in my line of vision and I shifted slightly so I could no longer see him. 'Where did you have in mind? You'd be a better pick at restaurants around here than me.'

'Hmm...' I could hear the sound of rustling paper and, faintly, in the background, a baby crying. 'There's one near the Thames. I've never been there, but it's apparently nice. Good food but still reasonable. Nice setting...'

'Sounds great.'

'So I'll pick you up at six? That ok?' The paper had stopped rustling and the baby wasn't wailing any more. It took me a moment to realise that Jasper was waiting for an answer. 'Annie?'

'Huh? Oh, oops. Sorry. Six is fine.'

'You sure you're ok?'

I sighed, leaning back against the couch. 'Yeah. I've just...got a lot on my mind.'

After hanging up, I stayed sitting on the couch for a few more minutes, aware of how quiet the flat suddenly was.

'Hex?' I called, turning to look at the kitchen. 'Hex?'

No answer.

I got up and wandered into the kitchen. No Hex. The hallway was empty and when I got to the front door I saw only my coat on the coat rack.

'Bye, Amber,' I muttered, feeling a bit annoyed. 'See you later.'

I mooched around for the rest of the day, nipping out after lunch to finish my shopping. The shops made me frustrated and I got home in a bad mood to find Harry had left a message on my answering machine.

'Annie, it's Harry. Just calling to let you know that you shouldn't put defrosted meat in with your vegetables. Can ruin the vegies. Any confusion over this message give me a call. Bye.'

I played the message again before sighing and dialling Harry's number. It only occurred to me then that Harry had called me _Annie_.

'Explain the message,' I sighed as soon as the phone was picked. 'And why did you call me Annie?'

'I called you Annie because someone could have been listening and the message was a bit vague and cryptic for that reason too.' Harry paused and then continued: 'No more associating with your friends. It's an unnecessary risk. I've explained this to them already, so I want no more face to face discussions and if corresponding by phone or email use cover names- you're Annie, Li is Lottie, Paulo is Paulo- that one's easy- Alex is Andrew and Hex is Henry- and keep it vague and unrelated.'

'Like your message?'

'Like my message,' Harry agreed.

'Why aren't we being vague and unrelated now?' I asked, sneaking a quick glance at the clock. I nearly fell off the couch. Five already!

'Well...' Harry was gearing up for some longwinded spiel. I could feel it in the air.

'Short version, please. I have a date at six.'

Harry sounded surprised as he said, 'With who? I thought I just said before that you weren't to- Oh. Hang on. You have a date with _Jasper_?'

'Nice to know how much faith you have in me,' I replied, offended.

'How? You met him last night.'

'I just did what you said. He's really confident and' –I searched for the right word and came up blank- 'yeah. But you were answering, in as limited syllables as possible, why we weren't being all Da Vinci Code right now.'

'Da Vinci Code?'

'Just answer the damn question,' I groaned.

'Right. Since you only met Jasper last night I figured that he wouldn't have a had a chance, or need for that matter, to bug your phone.' Harry said the last part quickly, almost as if he was afraid of my reaction.

'He's going to _bug my phone_?' I spluttered.

'Well the other women he's apparently been involved with all had their phones bugged.'

'But I thought you said here were no witnesses-' My eyes widened. 'Oh,' I finished flatly. 'There were no witnesses because they were all killed, right? And the only reason you know their phones were bugged was when the crime scene was examined.'

'Yeah.' I had to give Harry some credit. He sounded genuinely apologetic. Well, as apologetic as he could sound given the only word he used was _yeah_.

'Never mind,' I said trying to sound nonchalant and failing miserably. 'My possible death was an easy thing to leave out of the mission briefing.

Harry was starting to get defensive. How dare I even _think _about bagging his work? 'Now hang on a minute. Your past two missions and, for that matter, every single mission you and your friends did before joining MI5 was dangerous. There's been a chance that you'd be killed every time you dive into fighting something criminal. Yes, this time you're going solo, but you've got not only Li, Hex, Paulo and Alex watching your back but every single officer in this department is keeping an eye out. I've got people following you, making sure you're ok. I've taken every possible precaution so that you'll be exposed to as little risk as possible, but, Amber, some things are out of my hands.'

'Right,' I said slowly after a pause. 'Thanks for clearing that up. Sorry.'

Harry still hadn't cooled down, though I was starting to think he wasn't just annoyed at me. 'Go get ready,' he snapped before hanging up.

I listened to the dial tone, thinking about how final it sounded. All connections severed, you're on your own.

* * *

I made sure to keep my expression unchanged as we walked into the restaurant. Apparently it was Li and Paulo's- or should I say Lottie and Paul's- turn to baby-sit. Paulo was standing behind a desk, looking bored, occasionally answering the phone and directing people to their tables. Li flitted about among the tables, taking orders and delivering meals and beverages. Her smile was nowhere near as transparent as the waitress at the café yesterday. It was hard to believe that I'd had breakfast with Li and "got some things off my chest" less than 48 hours before. Blimey things had sure moved fast.

'Reservation for two. Name of Price,' Jasper said coolly when we reached Paulo and his desk.

'Certainly,' Paulo answered with all professionalism. 'Nichola will show you to your table. Have a lovely evening.'

As we followed Nichola to, I understood why Harry had put Alex and Hex in the pub and Li and Paulo in here. It was hard to imagine either Hex or Alex being a waiter or table pointer. An image of Alex wearing the short black dress that the waitresses wore flashed into my mind and I grinned. Jasper saw my grin as we sat down and he raised an eyebrow.

'Why the euphoric face?' he asked.

I shrugged. 'Just happy, I guess.'

Jasper smiled. 'Good. Glad to hear it. I'd be concerned if you weren't happy.'

Li wound her way towards us, pen and notepad at the ready.

'And what are the two of you wanting to eat and drink tonight? Or haven't you decided yet?'

I looked at Jasper. He was scouring the menu with an intensely concentrated look on his face. 'Do you mind what you have, Annie?' he asked, suddenly looking at me.

'No. Why, do you have something to recommend?'

'A mate of mine has been here a couple of times and when I told him we were coming here he said to have the pumpkin soup to start and follow that with the barramundi.'

I smiled and turned to Li. 'Guess I'm having the pumpkin soup and barramundi.'

Li jotted that down while saying, 'And to drink?'

'Just water, thanks,' I said quickly, determined not to be the slightest bit drunk.

'Will sir be having the same?' Li asked looking very proper. I bit my lip and couched to cover my laughter.

'Why not?' Jasper grinned, passing the menus to Li. 'Water for me as well, thank you.'

Li gave a tiny bow and said, 'The drinks will be arriving shortly and your entrees should follow soon after. Enjoy your evening.' She floated off towards the kitchens.

Jasper started and kept the conversation going for most of the night. He asked me question after question and although it seemed like he was just attempting to get to know me better, I knew he was actually checking to see if I was what he deemed to be a trustworthy individual, grilling me over every little detail.

During dessert I decided to risk it.

'So, Jasper,' I started. 'What exactly do _you_ do for a living?'

My question didn't sound suspicious because he'd asked me that not two minutes before and this was the first chance I'd had to ask. He was dealing the cards and I was simply playing them in the right order.

Jasper froze for a split second, forkful of mud cake halfway to his mouth. Then he relaxed and shrugged. 'Business. Fairly boring.'

'What sort of business?' I pressed.

Swallowing the mouthful of cake, Jasper waved his fork around saying vaguely, 'Oh, this and that. Trading, imports, exports, whatever.'

'Do you work for yourself or are you part of a company?'

Jasper frowned. 'Why all the questions?'

'Sorry. Just curious,' I said quickly, dropping my gaze to the tabletop and squashing the, _So _you_ can do a great impersonation of the Spanish Inquisition but I can't?_ that was just screaming to be uttered.

Jasper's expression softened. He reached out, put his hand over mine and murmured, 'It's better if you don't get involved in that.'

Deciding that I'd pushed my luck as far as it was going to go tonight, I didn't answer.

Just seconds later Jasper's phone buzzed softly. He hooked it out of his shirt pocket and answered in a low voice: 'This better be important because I'm- _What_?!'

The person on the other end must have been speaking because Jasper listened intently for the next minute before snapping the phone shut and sliding it into his pocket again.

Standing up, Jasper shot me an apologetic look. 'You don't mind leaving now, do you? Something's come up.'

'No, it's ok. Don't worry about it.' I stood up as well and added, 'I should be getting home anyway. Work in the morning.' I rolled my eyes.

Jasper chuckled and took hold of my hand. We walked out towards Paulo where Jasper paid and got Paulo to ring for a cab.

Outside, as my cab pulled up, Jasper kissed me.

'I'd really like to see you again,' he murmured with a sigh. 'However, I have no idea when this mess with the business will be sorted out. I _will_ call you though. This isn't some pathetic excuse to brush you off.'

'Sure. I trust you,' I replied, smiling.

There was a flash of something- guilt? -that flickered across Jasper's face before he smiled as well.

'Have fun at work.' He opened my door, waited for me to get in and then shut it again. As the cabbie drove off, I looked back at Jasper just as I had done the night before. The difference this time was I wasn't looking through a bloody haze and Jasper didn't look as dangerous any more.


	3. Little Lies

**A/N Load of dialogue throughout this chapter- in fact almost the whole thing is dialogue- but it is sort of necessary to get a feel for the characters and set up for the rest of the fic. Next chapter should be a bit more interesting with some action. Yeah! **

**Checkout the Challenges section in the Alpha Force forums. There's a lot of old challenges and be-nice-to-nerds recently proposed another challenge. The challenges are really great and there's a lot of variety for a lot of genres.**

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Chapter Three: Little Lies

The next three days followed the same dull, monotonous pattern. I'd get up early, have breakfast, wash, get changed, drive to Green's Goods and work there until five in the afternoon. After my shift I'd head home and occupy myself with meaningless tasks like refolding all the serviettes in my cupboard or counting the grains of salt left in the salt shaker. The one highlight of those three days was on Wednesday, around lunchtime when an old lady came into the store and insisted that she had ordered something from us.

'No, ma'am, I'm really sorry but-'

'But? But? Are you a goat?!'

'No, ma'am, _however_ I'm afraid to say that we haven't any orders under your name.'

'Youth of today! So disrespectful! Where's the manager? I want to speak to the manager!'

'He's on a lunch break, _however_-'

'Lunch break? What is he doing having lunch at this time of day?'

'It's only two-'

'If it goes past noon and you haven't eaten you should wait for dinner!'

Turned out she was in the wrong store. But apart from that verbal battle with a pensioner, by Thursday afternoon I was on the verge of dieing from boredom.

It was quarter to five and part of me was counting down the minutes until I could leave work while another part of me was dreading heading home to watch the grass grow. I was crouched down behind the counter, sweeping up the broken glass I'd knocked _off_ the counter when the little bell attached to the door of the shop tinkled happily. I figured that whoever had just walked in would get what they need to get, come to the counter to pay for it and then discover me down here. No need to call out.

I was surprised when I heard the _ting_ of the bell on my desk. Shoving the dustpan, brush and glass under the counter, I popped up and nearly fell back down again.

'Jasper!' I gasped, staring at his bruised face. 'What happened?'

Jasper bit his lip. 'When do you knock off?'

'Any minute now. Actually, I can come now if you want; Daniel's in the back so he can take over. Just give me a moment to tell him and grab my bag.'

I spun around, pushed the bead curtain aside impatiently, grabbed my bag from the bench in the back room, hollered, 'Bye, Daniel!' and swept out into the front again.

'Ready?' I asked, coming around the side of the desk. Jasper's face looked terrible: his right eye was only half open with a spectacular display of black and purple surrounding it; there was a neat row of stitches above his left eyebrow and his bottom lip was swollen.

'Yep.' Despite the swollen lip and obviously painful bruising, Jasper was having no trouble talking. 'I need to talk to you.'

As I followed Jasper out of the store, I fought down the surge of panic. This was bad. Really bad.

'Hop in.' Jasper gestured to his car, saw my glance to my own transport and added, 'I'll drop you back here when we're done.'

I climbed into Jasper's car, wondering if what I was doing was a bad idea. I looked sideways out my window and saw Paulo's car pulling out of its parking space. So I wasn't completely alone then. While Paulo's presence gave me some peace of mind, I knew if Jasper was about to kill me, there was nothing Paulo would be able to do. Call me pessimistic, but a potential death sentence hanging over my head tended have that reaction.

We drove for about fifteen minutes, arriving in some long-forgotten park. Jasper parked and got out. I followed along as he walked quickly to a picnic table under a tree and sat down. As I sat on the bench across from him I asked, 'What is it?'

Jasper took a deep, shuddering breath and looked at his hands, refusing to meet my eye. This was a totally different Jasper to the one I'd met at the Triumph and had dinner with. What on earth could have happened over three and a half days to change his demeanour so drastically?

'What?' I repeated.

'I have to give you a choice, Annie. But before you make your decision, listen to what I have to say. You probably won't like it, but I don't want to lie to you any more, not when it's your life you're gambling with.

'My "business" isn't exactly legit. We deal in drug smuggling and distribution, human trafficking and terrorism. Over the past year, things had been going downhill; our two main centres in Australia were destroyed, three of our members in India were arrested and are now rotting in jail and our main supplier for cocaine has mysteriously disappeared. Yeah, things were going sour.

'But then I was given a chance. My boss was cutting his losses and running while he still could. I'm not sure what he did in other places, but here, in London, he divided it up and gave a patch to each of us- me and two others. We were told not to infringe on each other's area and to continue our business in our own patch. Our boss gave us some names and some money and then we were left to our own devices.

'After I secured some loyal followers, I started in drug dealing again. It was the easiest and least messy operation. Unfortunately the other two guys I share London with also picked to focus on drug imports and exports. Our clients move between us, sometimes buying from one of them, sometimes buying from me, sometimes buying from one of them again. There's always been tension and hostility between the three of us, but it's suddenly got worse.

'My rivals have joined together, pooling their areas, clients, money, resources... Everything. They're twice as strong, twice as confident, twice as dangerous and they want my patch.

'The call I got on Sunday night was from one of my followers. He'd seen my rivals sniffing around one of my dropping points and thought they were going to snatch the drugs, money or both.' Jasper paused for a split second and I realised how much attention I'd been paying to him. A light drizzle had started to fall and I hadn't even noticed it. 'Well. I showed up with a few heavies and things got a bit nasty. Not to say we were beaten to a pulp, though; think this is bad' –he pointed to his face and grinned- 'you should see the other guy.'

'I don't really see what this has to do with me and "gambling with my own life".'

'It's happened before and it sure as heck is going to happen again. These guys I'm up against don't fight fair. They have a problem with someone, they don't go and sort it out with that someone. Other people get involved, people who are close to that someone.' I must have still looked confused because he added, 'You should have a talk to my sister.'

We sat in silence for a minute or two, watching the rain fall and people hurrying about, silently kicking themselves for forgetting the wet weather gear. During those couple of minutes, I mentally thanked Harry for coming up with my criminal background.

It was time to play my ace.

'Look, Jasper. I appreciate the concern but really, it's not necessary.'

'I don't think you realise how dangerous this could get,' Jasper said in a strained voice.

'Ok.' I put my hands flat down on the table. 'You told me some things about you, I need to tell you some things about me.

'My mom was a detective in the police force. She was given an undercover assignment: to infiltrate a drug dealing group. It was going to be a long time that she'd have to be undercover for, but everyone said she could handle it.

'My dad was second in charge of that drug group. They fell for each other and when mom heard that the drug dealers were all going to be arrested, she did the inexcusable. She told dad and they left the state together.

'Maybe the criminal past would have ended there, but they were short of cash and I came along. Dad moved into a mixture of small drug deals and armed robbery. Mom helped whenever she could and on more than one occasion I was taken along as a pretend hostage.

'This went on for years and years. By the time I was six, I'd been involved in more criminal activities than your average prisoner. I'd seen my dad kill over a dozen people in that time and I didn't know any different. I was brought up to fear the law, to hate it.

'Both my parents decided I need a normal life from then on. It wasn't right to deprive me of an education. I was sent to a private boarding school for the start of grade one; all the fees were paid for using stolen or drug money. Everything was great until I was in my tenth year there.

'Mom suddenly turned up one night and terminated my enrolment. I hadn't seen her for so long that I didn't ask questions, didn't care why. She told me that we were leaving the country, that we had to start a new life somewhere. We ended up in Kent, but moved on after a few months. That was the pattern for the next year of my life. Settle somewhere then have to move on. Settle somewhere then have to move on.

'When I was 16 we returned to the States. Mom wanted me back at school, but I refused. I wanted to help them.' My voice dropped to a whisper. I had no trouble faking the pain of losing both your parents. 'The deal went bad and we were taken captive. I made it out alive, just, but my parents didn't.

'For the next six years, I flitted around, living on the streets or in cheap accommodation. I was in constant fear about being tracked down by the people who had killed my parents.

'When I finally scraped together enough money, I moved here.' Halfway through my little monologue, I'd looked down at my hands, afraid that my face would give something away. Now I looked up to find Jasper staring at me.

'What?' I asked anxiously.

Standing up, Jasper motioned with his hand that I should follow him. We walked back to the car and only when we were sitting inside did Jasper ask.

'So you still want to keep seeing me? The fact you might be killed to get to me isn't a worry?'

I borrowed Harry's serious face for a moment and said, 'Yes, I still want to keep seeing you and no, the danger isn't a worry.' This was it, the big moment of truth. 'Actually, I want to help.'

Unfortunately Jasper was driving when I said this. He crashed the brake down and the car screamed, jerking to a halt. Once he got it moving again, he looked at me in disbelief.

'Please tell me you didn't just say what I thought you said.'

'If what you think I said is I want to help with your business, then yes, I said what you thought I said.'

Jasper blew out a great gust of air. 'Seriously?'

'Seriously,' I agreed.

There was a pause and I wondered if I'd pushed my luck. I had known Jasper since last Saturday night and here I was, asking to be a part of the family business. I fully expected him to say _no_, reach under his seat, pull out a gun and shoot me without even swerving, so his answer really knocked me for six.

'Alright. You can help, but small deals only and any whiff of danger and you're out.' He seemed to be thinking because a minute later he added, 'Have a talk to Georgia, my sister, first and then let me know if you still want to be a part of this.'

* * *

I instantly liked Georgia. She was a happy, bubbly person that you couldn't help but feel at ease around. But boy could she talk. Never could you say, _Any famous last words?_ to Georgia because you'd both have died of old age by the time she'd finished.

Jasper summoned her into the kitchen and when she came out she was carrying a tray with two cups, a pot of tea and a little jug of milk. She set the tray down on the coffee table in front and sat down across from me.

'Jasper said I'm to have a little talk with you.' Georgia poured me a cup of tea and passed it across. I took it and wrapped my fingers around it. 'You want to help out with the business, yeah?'

I nodded.

'And he said alright, but to talk to me first?'

I nodded again, then thought of a question. 'Georgia, why did he say yes so quickly? I've only known him since Saturday, not even a week.'

'Ah. This is part of the sad tale I have to tell you. Jasper isn't a bad person, Annie. He is kind and caring and he doesn't want people to get hurt unnecessarily. I tell him time, after time, after time not to drag his girlfriends into the business, but he always ends up coming clean. He always wants to put a choice out, that way he won't feel as guilty if something happens. You're the first to not immediately break it off and go running to the police. I think that shocked him a bit; he would have been so relieved at your reaction- or lack of one- that he'd have agreed to anything.'

Georgia sipped her tea and looked at me. 'I'm glad you didn't run off, Annie. I know we're going to be good friends.'

Smiling back, I said, 'I hope so.'

Setting down her mug, Georgia clapped her hands together once and said, 'To business. Jasper wants me to tell you a little story that I swear is completely true. He's very fond of you, Annie, and he's actually quite excited that you want to help out instead of running to the cops so he's not trying to get me to frighten you, but he _does_ want you to be completely certain of your decision.

'Our childhood was very similar to yours, or so I believe after what Jasper briefly told me. Our dad was a drug dealer, but mom wasn't a cop, she was the sister of one of dad's mules. One thing led to another and after just a few months they got married. The business was going good when Jasper was born and dad took some time off, leaving another guy in charge. They went travelling for two years and I was born soon after they returned home. We lived in a lovely house outside the city and everything was perfect. The business slumped for about a year when Jasper was eight and I was six, but it picked up again just as my little sister Charlotte was born. Dad called us his lucky charms because everything went right when each of us were born.'

Georgia pulled a tissue from the box in front of her and dabbed at her eyes. I sensed the sad part of the story coming up.

'Five years later everything went wrong. We woke up one morning to hear mum screaming her head off. She'd gone in to wake Charlotte up and found her dead in her bed. Her-' Georgia faltered, tears starting to slide down her cheeks. 'Her throat had been cut and there was blood everywhere. Jasper and I were really scared, we couldn't think of who'd want to do that to our sweet little sister. She was five, _five_. Dad knew though. He phoned the police but, like Jasper does now, Dad had several officers on his payroll.'

I tucked that little piece of information away for later reference. That must be the reason why Jasper had never been convicted or even arrested for anything- murder, drug dealing, human trafficking, terrorism, heck, he probably wouldn't even get a _parking_ ticket.

Georgia continued: 'The horrible thing is the people who killed Charlotte will never be made to pay for what they did. In an investigation, _any _investigation, titbits of information about the victim's family will always come up so Dad's officers made sure it was investigated in a very slapdash method.

'Mum was never the same but what happened next was the final straw. Dad was blinded by the need to get revenge. He went on a killing rampage and shot six of his rival dealers. The cops arrested him; that was one thing his officers couldn't stop. He was sentenced to life imprisonment, but he barely made it through the first month. No one knows what happened- murder, suicide, accident- but he was dead in his cell one morning.

'I don't really blame Mum for acting the way she did. She'd just lost her five year old daughter in one of the most horrific, gruesome ways imaginable and then her husband dies as well. She was left with no job, no way to earn any money, and two kids. Just two months after Dad died, she took an overdose of sleeping pills. Jasper was 13 and I was 11.

'As we were now orphans, we were shipped off to an orphanage. I was moved almost straight away into a foster home but Jasper stayed in that hellhole for two years. Maybe I would have turned into a proper little girly girl, but no matter how nice my foster parents were, I hated them. I hated them for trying to replace my parents; I hated them for telling me everything was ok when it wasn't; I hated them for taking me away from Jasper. Jasper was finally given a placement with a middle aged couple- Vivian and Glenn, I think- that Jasper doted on.

'When Jasper was 16, a year after he was first put with Vivian and Glenn, he ended up running into Colin, an old friend of Dad's- he was actually the one who ran everything when Mum, Dad and Jasper went on holiday before I was born. Colin recognised Jasper and offered him a job. Jasper refused at first, but something happened at school- he's never told me what- and he ended up taking the job. That continued up until last year when Colin bailed out and divided up London.

'I entered six years back. I was almost eighteen and my foster parents kept dropping hints that I was old enough to leave, make my own way in the world, etc. I managed to track Jasper down and moved in with him. I got involved with the business and ended up in a relationship with one of Jasper's mates. I fell pregnant with twins and Sam wanted nothing more to do with me. Turned out he was married. I didn't care though; I had my two beautiful girls and everything was perfect. For two years everything was perfect.

'Like Charlotte, our rivals used Jacqueline and Rosemarie to get to me and Jasper. Like Charlotte, they broke in while we were sleeping and... well. I was an utter mess for the next six months, but then I met Chris. I have no idea why but we just sort of... clicked. Like you and Jasper I suppose.

'Cut a long story short, I fell pregnant again, with Roxanne, and Chris and I got engaged. Roxy was born six months ago and two months after that Chris and I were out at the pub when-' Georgia stopped again, her face pinched with pain.

'It's ok,' I murmured. 'You don't have to tell me any of this. We can change topics if you want. We can talk about' –I looked around for inspiration- 'the timber industry.'

'No, no, no. I- I need to tell you this.' She gave a huge sigh. 'It was Jasper's rivals again. There's always tension, there's always attacks, there's always revenge. Always have been, always will be. They "borrowed" me and Chris for a "little chat" and we were taken down to some industrial shed by the river. Chris died there to save me. He died to save me and our daughter.'

The box of tissues on the coffee table was almost empty and Georgia had tears streaming down her cheeks, but her voice was steady and neutral. That was something I didn't get. I tended to keep my emotions to myself but if I did ever let my guard down I went all out: tears, screaming, hysterics, etc. Whatever the situation called for. I was never half and half.

The situation called for an appropriate comment from me and all I could think of at such short notice was, 'I'm so sorry. Here I was complaining about my life. I've been living in Beverley Hills compared to you.'

Sniffing, Georgia gave a tiny smile. 'You're the first of Jasper's girlfriends I've met. I'm glad I have though. We're going to get along just fine.'

A baby started crying and Georgia departed with a, 'Roxy's awake! I'll be back in a mo.'

Roxy was the cutest little thing. She gurgled happily from the floor, strangling a toy zebra with enthusiasm. Georgia plonked her in my lap and smiled.

'Well. Whadda ya know?'

'What?'

'Roxy usually chucks a fit whenever I hand her over to anyone else. She even does it with Jasper. I can't go out anywhere without her because she won't settle, no matter who watches her. I might have to get you to baby-sit for me.'

I bounced Roxy on my knee and she squealed. 'Sure. Any time.'

On the outside I was happy and carefree, but inside I was churning. One thing about working with MI5 that I'd never get used to was the absolute guilt of having to pretend to have such a tragic life. Sure, my parents had been murdered by an evil man with no morals and too much time on his hands, but I had suffered nothing like Georgia and Jasper had, or any of the refugees that were in the Australian centres. But I was also thinking about my mission and my targets. Why did they trust me so much? Was I being set up? Did they know I was with the Secret Service and were just toying with me before shooting me in the head and burying my body in an unmarked grave? Or were Georgia and Jasper just nice people who were caught up in a bad business? Did they normally trust people as quickly and with as much information that they trusted me with? I supposed it didn't matter- the fact that I knew so much about them would please Harry by itself- but it still disturbed me. Why did they have to make things so hard for me? Why couldn't they just by horrible, blood-thirsty people who hadn't gone through so much? Why couldn't I hate them?


	4. Tears

**Chapter Four: Tears**

That talk to Georgia on Thursday had really given me a new perspective on this mission and I wasn't entirely sure if that was a good idea. I knew that I was beginning to not think of my targets as targets. For all I knew, Georgia could have been telling me a fast one, but I somehow knew that she wasn't. But apart from the new dilemma that faced me, Thursday had been fantastic. "A turning point" as Harry had put it.

Friday I worked at Green's Goods. No interesting characters unfortunately, though we had a slight mishap involving two young boys, a skateboard and a display of potatoes.

Saturday was a miserable, wet day that I spent at Jasper's place. Georgia taught me how to cheat at poker and I minded Roxy for an hour while she went to the dentist. Jasper and I went out to the Triumph Saturday night before I headed home and crashed. Since Jasper had been absent for the majority of the day, I assumed that my phone now sported a fashionable new bug.

Georgia appeared on my doorstep early Sunday morning, announcing that I was coming with her and Roxy to a little fair out of the city. Thankfully the weather was fine and I had a rather enjoyable day. Apart from the psychic.

I was shoved rather unceremoniously into a small, sparkly purple tent that positively reeked of incense and cheap perfume. Georgia had her fortune read first and then insisted that it was my turn.

'Ah... No, it's alright,' I said hurriedly.

Georgia smiled and pressed a handful of cons into the psychic's palm. 'Nonsense, Annie. Go on. It's just a bit of fun.'

Confession: I'm a bit of a sceptic. But even factoring that in, I really didn't have a problem with having the psychic "read me". As long as Georgia wasn't around.

Just as the psychic took hold of my hands and shut her eyes, Roxy started wailing. Georgia had to take her outside and calm her down, so thankfully that kept her out of the way.

The psychic's forehead was crinkled with concentration. I pretended not to feel her long nails digging into the backs of my hands.

'I see conflict in your life: now and in the future; emotional and physical. Change is coming, change you have wished for and change you dread.

I rolled my eyes. Who didn't have some sort of conflict and change in their lives?

'The departure of a friend- a good friend and a mentor- is eminent. You are living a lie and need to come clean. Things will be better if you do. Everything is going to work out.'

Right. If I tell Jasper I'm an undercover MI5 officer everything will be just fine and dandy. Want to be invited to my funeral?

The psychic's eyes suddenly flew open and she looked at me, her piercing blue-black eyes seeming to stare straight into my thoughts. I admit I had a slight panic attack: she couldn't have read my mind, could she?

'You're rather difficult to read,' she murmured almost as if it didn't matter if I heard or not. 'A tight control on thoughts and emotions. Intriguing...'

Georgia's head poked into the tent and I pulled my hands out of the psychic's grasp. That seemed to break whatever freaky trance she had going there because she blinked once, shook her head slightly and smiled.

'Thank you. May the future be bright.'

I mumbled my thanks and staggered out of the tent, feeling a bit dizzy for the remainder of the day. I made a promise to myself to never see a psychic again.

The next five days zipped by. I was beginning to doubt whether Jasper was actually going to let me help out and I was trying to decide how I was going to break the news to Harry. There was the short, direct approach- _Harry, the mission's carked it_- but there was also the hypothetical, more roundabout way- _Just wondering what you'd say if someone told you a certain task hadn't turned out the way a certain person thought it might_. Both ways had their flaws and I was hoping to avoid using either.

Luckily Jasper turned up that cloudy Saturday morning.

'Busy?' Jasper leaned against the kitchen bench and looked at me.

I paused, halfway through buttering my piece of raisin toast. 'No. Why?'

'Just thought you might like to earn a bit of cash, meet some friends of mine... Nothing glamorous- you'll be hacking up bits of dead animal.'

I made a face and swallowed. 'Thanks for that. Next time, not while I'm eating.'

'So... Do you want to come along? Or would you rather stay in and watch repeats of the _Antiques Roadshow_?'

Grabbing the remaining half slice of my toast, I dumped my plate and knife in the sink and said, 'Let's go.'

When we pulled up in the back parking lot for _Choice Meats_ a short woman with red hair peered out the back door.

'It's alright,' Jasper called as we got out of the car. 'Only me.'

The woman visibly relaxed and smiled back. 'Jasper! Wondering when you'd pop back in again.' She squinted in my direction and added, 'Who's this?'

'Donna, this is Annie. Annie, Donna.'

'Pleased to meet you,' I said as we reached Donna. She threw her arms around me and crushed me in a hug.

'Lovely to meet you too. I suppose you're the extra help Jasper mentioned.' Donna released me and we followed her down the corridor into a back room where two men and another woman who looked a few years younger than me were sitting at benches, "hacking up dead bits of dead animal".

'Look who finally came by,' Donna announced to the room's occupants. There was a chorus of _Hey, Jasper_'s and then every eye turned my way.

'Oh,' Donna said, grasping a large meat cleaver. 'And this is Annie. Annie, that lovely young lady there is my niece Amelia. That boofhead over there with the knife is my fiancé Dale and Brendan is Amelia's boyfriend.' Wielding the cleaver, Donna slid a lump of meat towards her. 'Right. Introductions over, let's get to work. Jasper, you can give Brendan a hand sorting stuff out in the back; we got a delivery just before and there's boxes and boxes of stuff to go in the cold room. Dale' –she looked up- 'keep doing what you're doing. Amelia, show Annie the ropes.' With that, Donna starting cutting the meat up into chunks.

I sat on the stool next to Amelia who smiled and spun a piece of meat around on the board in front of her. Picking up a knife, she said, 'We're just cutting these' –she pointed the knife at a pile of meat in front of her- 'into steaks about, say, one centimetre thick.' The blade of the knife was pressed to the meat. 'Simply apply a steady amount of downward pressure and cut.'

I watched Amelia for a few minutes until I was completely sure I wasn't going to mess up. A knife, cutting board and piece of meat was placed in front of me and I started my morning's work. Amelia was just like her aunt: bubbly, chatty and very friendly. We passed the time by talking about whatever popped into our heads and it was so hard to remember I was actually on a mission, trying to get information about Jasper's group. Donna, Amelia, Dale and Brendan were no doubt aware of, if not involved with, Jasper's business, but I wasn't going to bring it up. Despite the fact that I was cutting a piece of cow into slices, I found myself relaxing and really enjoying myself. Dale put some old rock music on and sung along tunelessly to every single song. Jasper and Brendan finished in the cold room and joined the four of us around the table.

By the time ten o'clock came around, I had a mountain of steaks beside me. Donna clapped her hands and issued the new set of instructions.

'Dale and Jasper, I need you both to start packing the steaks the girls cut. Brendan, keep cutting that Wagyu lot up. Girls' –she turned to me and Amelia- 'you can come and give me a hand at the counter.'

We made our way out of the back room, through a swing door and into the front of the shop. A glass display counter separated us from the customers that were already waiting behind the closed door. Amelia unlocked the door and skipped back around the counter. We had an almost steady stream until about eleven thirty. Donna disappeared behind the swing door and came back with three cups of tea. While we sipped, Donna asked me how I was enjoying my day so far.

'I've had fun,' I answered truthfully.

'Despite the fact you've been cutting up meat for two hours and then dealing with fussy customers for an hour and a half?' Amelia grinned.

I didn't get to answer because a large lady wearing a horrible floral print cardigan bustled in through the door and spent twenty minutes deciding what she should buy. I felt my patience wearing thin so I excused myself and went into the back room. Jasper looked up and smiled when he saw me.

'Hi,' he said. 'Having a good time?'

'Yeah. Well, I was until a lady with bad fashion sense and a really loud voice came in.'

'So is that why you came back here?' Jasper moved a bag of meat off the chair next to him and patted the seat.

I sat down with a sigh. 'Yeah. I haven't really got a lot of patience and she's been out there for _twenty_ minutes. We've heard her whole life story: she's originally from Sweden but she's lived in Italy, France, Turkey and now she's here, in London, gracing us with her presence. She's having a dinner party tonight for her family- mom, dad, her two younger sisters and older brother, aunt Maureen who's a _whiz_ at making lemon meringue, uncle Bert who's going through a messy divorce- and a few friends- Wanda and Max, Julia and Pete, Leanne, Mickey and Hannah.'

'Ah. I see why you left.' Jasper put his knife down and made a neat pile of meat scraps which he then pushed into a plastic bag. 'Sorry we haven't been able to go out and do anything this past week. Things are a bit stressed unfortunately.'

I shrugged. 'Doesn't matter. I've been working earlier and later anyway; Oliver's got a really bad flu and he's been off since Tuesday.' That was true enough, but Daniel hadn't exactly forced me into doing overtime. I had just got so sick of mincing around my flat that I begged him to increase my hours. A little white lie never hurt anyone.

'So you want to go have something to eat Monday night. Or will Daniel still need you at work?'

Finally. A break from the monotony. 'That'd be great,' I said. 'Oliver should be back in tomorrow so it should be ok. I'll check with Daniel Monday morning and give you a ring.'

Donna's voice from behind the swing door interrupted the conversation.

'Annie. She's gone, but about half of London has replaced her. Can you come give us a hand?'

I groaned and grabbed a new set of disposable gloves from the box, retying my apron as I walked towards the doors. Pushing through the swing doors I realised that Donna was barely exaggerating. The entire shop was almost filled with people and Amelia and Donna were going flat out. I went up to the counter and called, 'Next!' Immediately five people surged forward, all clamouring and waving their little bits of numbered paper. A young lady with a beret was standing quietly to one side and I decided to serve her first.

'What can I get you?' I asked in a loud voice. A man with a handlebar moustache and a Stetson pushed in front of the young lady.

'A pound of-'

'Not you,' I snapped. 'Why don't you back off and wait quietly?'

The man was shocked. 'Well, I have never-'

'Can it, alright.' I glared at him from behind the counter and he took a step forward, moustache quivering.

Donna stepped up beside me and hissed, 'Do your ears need unblocking? Does your hearing aid need a new battery? You were asked to step aside and I suggest you do so.'

The man chomped on air for a second, his face beetroot red, before stalking out the door. I looked sideways at Donna and she shook her head.

'He's an absolute arsehole. Whenever he comes in here the meat is too cheap, the meat is too expensive, it's the wrong type, it's not the right temperature, the line is too long...' She shook her head again. 'Arsehole,' she repeated.

The lady with the beret had made her way up to the counter and I served her, smiling cheerfully and chatting while I waited for Brendan to bring out her order. She left with a package of meat under her arm and a smile on her face. The backlog of customers eventually petered out and the quite atmosphere returned. Donna and Dale swapped places and Amelia and I were regaled with stories from the butcher's mouth.

The day was drawing to a close and the light drizzle had increased to a downpour. _Choice Meats_ was in one of the more dumpy areas of town and there was almost no one walking around outside. Dale was lounging against the counter, his eyes half closed, and Amelia was actually sitting on the ground, legs crossed and head dropping forward onto her chest.

A stocky, medium height person in a black hoodie and sweatpants was wandering up and down outside the shopfront. I frowned. Something about the way they were walking, the way they had one of their hands up under their jumper, that made alarm bells ring. Without taking my eyes of the suspicious person I nudged Amelia with my foot.

'Don't get freaked out, but there's someone a bit weird outside.'

Amelia mumbled, 'Huh?' and went to pull herself up using the counter. Her flailing hand caught the edge of a box balanced precariously on the counter's edge and the whole lot went tumbling down. Amelia ended up back on the floor, Dale dropped to his knees to help her and I looked down at the mess. That was when the hoodie person burst into the shop.

Jasper was coming out of the back room. The tune he was whistling died on his lips as he saw the person now standing in the middle of the shop. Almost in slow motion, I looked from his face to the person- it was still impossible to tell if they were male or female- and then I saw it. Why the person had been holding their hand inside their jumper suddenly became clear. You couldn't just walk about with a gun swinging from your hand, could you?

'Get down,' Jasper yelled. He leapt towards me, grabbed my shoulders and shoved me to the ground just as Hoodie fired their gun. The bullet shot over the counter, missed Jasper's head by centimetres and thumped into the back wall. Getting down had saved our lives but it might have been the end of us; all Hoodie had to do was lean over the counter, fire and we would have been as dead as the shop goods. But Brendan came running through the swing doors.

Hoodie stopped mid-stride, looked at Brendan, lifted the gun and fired. Amelia had seen Brendan step in from the back room and, although she couldn't see Hoodie, she must have realised what was going to happen.

'No!' she screamed. It was too late and even if she had of shouted that two seconds before, I doubted whether Hoodie would have dropped the gun and backed out murmuring apologies.

Brendan was hit in the chest. He gave a whimper and collapsed, his blood spilling out all over the shop floor. Amelia was sobbing as she pressed her hands against Brendan's chest, desperately trying though not making any difference to stem the blood pulsing out. Dale dropped down next to her and put his hands over hers, applying even more pressure. Then it happened again. The dreaded flashback. I was suddenly back in Australia, in the corridor near the security guards' offices, running towards Keisha, lying so similar to the way Brendan lay now on the floor of the butcher's. I was falling to my knees next to her tiny body, turning her over and seeing the stab wounds on her chest and stomach. Tears were flowing down my face and Keisha's blood was soaking into my jeans, but I barely noticed.

Jasper's arms around me dragged me back to the present. I was sobbing without realising and shaking uncontrollably.

'Shhhhh. Shhhhh,' Jasper whispered into my hair. 'It's ok.'

Donna had come through from the back room at some point and she was standing just inside the swing doors, white as snow with her hands pressed to her mouth.

'Don't just stand there,' Amelia snapped. 'Call an ambulance.'

Dale dropped Brendan's wrist and put his arm around Amelia's shoulders. 'I think it might be too late for an ambulance, Amelia.'

Shrugging Dale's arm off angrily, Amelia sniffed and pressed her hands down harder. 'No. No. It's not too late. He'll be fine.' Her voice wobbled. 'He has to be.'

Dale tried to pull Amelia away from Brendan but she swore at him and pushed him away.

'Amelia,' Jasper said softly. She looked at him with huge, red rimmed eyes.

'No,' she whispered. 'Please, no.'

'I'm so sorry.' Jasper bit his lip.

This time when Dale tried to pull her away, Amelia let him. Turning into Dale's chest, Amelia shook as grief overcame her.

'...so it has to be them, I mean who else- No, no, thanks for all your help, Alan. We really appreciate it. Take care.' Donna hung up and gazed sadly at her niece. 'Oh, Mia, love.'

* * *

Sitting in Jasper's living room, warm, clean and with a mug of hot chocolate in my hands, it was hard to not pass off the afternoon as some horrible nightmare or a spin-off on one of my flashbacks, but Jasper's face was enough to assure me that it wasn't.

Up until now, I'd been having a real cruisey time and it had been so easy to just dismiss Jasper's apparently irrational concerns. Now I'd been slapped in the face and reminded of the dangers. It was a horrible way to suddenly wake up, like I'd had a huge bucket of iced water chucked over me. I shivered and wrapped my fingers more firmly around the mug. Jasper came back into the lounge room, threw the cordless phone onto the armchair next to the sofa I was sitting on and then sat down next to me.

'See?' he said softly. 'You still think my worries are unjustified?'

I leant against him and didn't answer. Jasper turned the TV on; some really corny afternoon sitcom was playing. Letting the words wash over me, I closed my eyes.

* * *

Harry's fingers flew across the keyboard. Muttering under his breath, he hit a few keys and then sat back and rubbed his forehead. Just when things were going so well...

The past hour had been a nightmare. It had started when Luke had phoned in and told Harry about the shooting at the butchers and things had just continued downhill from there. Amber was fine- that was a relief- but someone _had_ been killed. With all the tension between the two rival groups that Amber had described, it probably hadn't been such a wise move putting an officer in the middle of it all.

That was what the two senior operatives wanted to talk about. Harry started typing again with the remnants of that conversation floating through his mind. It had taken half an hour and a lot of persuading but they'd agreed to leave Amber for the moment. Harry wasn't that happy with that, but what could he do? He had no doubts that Amber was able to handle anything thrown at her; she had a good head on her shoulders and wasn't one to back down and hide in a corner when the going got tough. She would never have forgiven Harry if he hadn't defended her mission. But how was he meant to forgive himself if she was killed or even just injured? Not only would he feel terrible, but Hex, Li, Alex and Paulo would never forgive him either.

'This bites,' Harry spat, shoving himself away from the desk. 'Why can't things just be bloody simple for once?'


	5. Guilty

**Chapter Five: Guilty**

Once again, I had the horrible feeling of not knowing where I was when I woke up. Although I'd only been living in my new flat for two weeks, I was ninety-nine percent certain that I didn't have a plasma screen TV or leather sofas. So why was I looking at the former and lying on the latter?

I slowly turned my head, pushing a bit of the blanket that was draped over the top of me out of the way. A picture hanging on the wall caught my eye: Georgia and Roxy in the park. Mystery solved. My watch face said twelve o'clock until I turned it around the right way. Six thirty. I must have fallen asleep on the couch sometime the previous evening.

Struggling up into a sitting position, I was met by the weirdest sight imaginable.

'Jasper...' I squinted and rubbed my eyes, trying to decide if I was still asleep or not. 'What the hell?'

Jasper turned to face me. 'Oh! You're awake. Morning. Good night's sleep?' He frowned and muttered something under his breath, obviously distracted.

'You gonna answer me?' I'd come to the conclusion that I wasn't having some strange, artsy dream and I didn't need to urgently see an optometrist.

'Answer what?' Jasper sounded genuinely puzzled. 'All you said was "What the hell?" How's that a question I need to answer?'

Kicking the blanket off me, I stood up and pointed at Jasper. 'You can explain why you have that thing strapped to your front.'

Jasper looked down. 'Oh. That.' He ran a hand through his hair. 'It's an Empathy Belly. Perfect for teenagers and unsympathetic partners, according to the brochure.'

'That doesn't explain why you're wearing it.'

Waddling over to the dining table, Jasper plucked a brochure from the tabletop and flicked it in my direction. I caught it on reflex and opened it to the first page.

'_Want to scare your teenagers off pregnancy before they're ready to be parents? Have you got an unsympathetic partner that doesn't understand the confines that being pregnant imposes on you? If you answered yes to either of these questions, the Empathy Belly is the perfect product for you_,' I read. Flipping forward a few pages, I continued: '_Fill the container provided with the kit with water, stopping when you reach the black line. After securing the lid of the container, place it in the specially designed pouch on the inside of the Empathy Belly. Ensuring that it is strapped tightly in place. Next you lift the_-' I stopped reading aloud, skimmed the rest of the paragraph, had a look at the diagrams and then turned my attention back to Jasper. 'That still doesn't explain why you're wearing it.'

While I had been browsing through the brochure, Jasper had taken the Empathy Belly off and dumped it on the table. Now he came over and sat next to me.

'Question for you: do you still want to help me?'

I nodded, making my face look as stubborn as possible in case he was about to tell me to stuff it.

'Pregnant women and women with children are just about above suspicion when it comes to criminal activities. Georgia and Roxy have been in France since yesterday morning and they're flying back in today to give you a reason to be at the airport. I'm going to put the package of drugs in a waterproof wrapping and then in the water container in the Empathy Belly. You have to wear it into the airport, go into the toilets by the arrivals gate, remove the drug packet, leave it in the cistern of the third toilet along and take the package that is in there. That ok?'

I rubbed my temples and said, 'Explain it again.'

Jasper sighed and repeated what he'd just said, but slower and with a bit more detail. When he'd finished I said, 'So, just to clarify, I'm going to put that thing' –I waved a hand towards the Empathy Belly laying limply on the table- 'on, pretend to be eight months pregnant, walk into the airport, leave the drugs and collect the money, meet up with Georgia and Roxy and then leave?'

'Yes. That ok with you, because I can get someone else to do it.' He was talking a bit too fast for the question to be casual.

'Uh uh.' I shook my head quickly. 'No way. I want to do this.'

Jasper slumped back. 'Thought you might say that. I was going to get Amelia to do it, but...' He trailed off and shrugged.

'I can handle it,' I reassured him. 'Trust me.'

* * *

Heathrow on a Sunday morning is hell. Half the country seemed to be either leaving or arriving at the same time. I waddled into the arrivals lounge, wearing a plain, navy blue maternity smock thing that Georgia had worn when she was pregnant with Roxy apparently, and feeling very self conscious. Although I'd spent 45 minutes perfecting the "waddle", I still felt weird, like a dozen security guards were going to suddenly leap out of the nearest alcove and tackle me to the ground. But I got to the toilets without any hassles what so ever. The only looks I go were the "ahhhhhhhhh" ones, or the "and _where _is her husband?" type.

As I went to push on the bathroom door, an explosion of coughing made me half turn and look back behind me. Sitting outside one of the little, over priced airport cafés was Hex and Li. Hex was bent over double, hacking his lungs up while Li thumped him on the back. A now empty water bottle was lying on its side on the table, water all over the tabletop. Water was flowing over the edge of the table, like a mini waterfall.

I turned back around, pushed the door open the rest of the way and went inside the toilets.

Pink and white. God were those toilets _pink_. I blinked hard and fast and started towards the third cubicle. It was locked. Of all the stupid, inconvenient things that could have happened, this had to be it. I looked at my watch and groaned. Five minutes left to have the package in there or the deal would have failed.

'Are you alright?'

I looked up sharply to see a tall woman gazing at me with concern. Leaning against the wall near the sinks, I nodded. 'Fine, thanks. Just got a bit dizzy.'

Muttering under her breath, the woman left. I splashed some water on my face and looked at myself in the bathroom mirror. Whether it was just my imagination or not, but I looked... harder. How simply hanging out with drug dealers would make someone look harder was a complete mystery to me, but that's how it appeared.

Three minutes. Three minutes. The toilet cubicle was still occupied and I still had to get the stupid Empathy Belly off, leave the drugs, put the money in the container, put the Belly back on...

The sound of a toilet flushing. I sighed with relief and moved towards the door so it would look like I'd just come in. The lady who had unknowingly caused me so much stress wandered out, smiled in my direction and washed her hands. I didn't see her leave because I'd bolted into the cubicle before the door had even stopped swinging.

Pulling the smock over my head, I unfastened the Velcro and dropped the Belly onto the toilet, making sure the lid was down. Unzipping the water container from its snug little nest and unscrewing the lid was tougher than I thought, but I finally got it. The drugs were lifted out, me holding them like they were a ticking bomb rather than a bunch of narcotics, and the cistern top pulled off. There. Just as Jasper said. A similar package to the one in my left hand, but this one crammed, no doubt, with wads of cash. I pulled the money out of the cistern, dropped the drugs in and put the lid of the cistern back on. The money package was plopped hurriedly into the water container, the Belly strapped back onto my front, the smock thrown over the top of it all. Remembering at the last minute to push the flush button for credibility, I swept out of the cubicle.

15 seconds to spare.

Washing my hands, I caught sight of myself once again in the mirror. I still had the mysterious "hard" look, but I also looked frightened. No terrified. Walking out of the bathroom, I suddenly realised that I had just left a package of drugs. A package of drugs that could wreck or even take away someone's life.

'Annie!' I spun around, wound tighter than a spring, nerves frazzled. Georgia was pushing her way towards me, Roxy bobbing on her hip.

'Georgia!' I cried as she crushed me in a hug. Roxy gurgled and held out her arms. Georgia beamed and handed her to me, settling her rucksack more comfortably on her back.

'Where's the car?'

We started out towards the doors, me still trying to waddle convincingly. The doors slid open and then we were outside. Home free. Jasper's Astra cruised by and pulled up about a dozen metres in front of us. We hurried over. Georgia strapped Roxy into her car seat and then climbed in the back beside her while I settled in the front passenger seat. Jasper smiled and gave my hand a squeeze before starting the car and driving out of the airport.

A pale face peering around my shoulder. Worried blue eyes scrutinising me.

'You ok, Annie?' Georgia asked.

I nodded. 'Fine. Just buggered from hauling this thing around.' I slapped the flat of my palm against the Belly.

Georgia laughed. 'Inconvenient, isn't it?' She sat back, but continued talking: 'So how did it go? The drop-off.'

'I almost missed the deadline. Some lady was in cubicle three so I had to wait for her to come out. Had 15 seconds to spare, though. All turned out ok in the end.' I looked sideways at Jasper.

'You did a really good job, Annie. Kept your head, even when things got dicey. Swift and efficient pick-up and delivery. Kept in character the whole time.' He gave me a funny look, one I didn't really understand. 'You haven't done any acting, have you?'

'No, why?' Ha. Annie Hamilton was one whole, humongous act.

'No reason. Just wondering.'

Back at Jasper's place, I got rid of the Empathy Belly and changed back into my jeans, t-shirt and pullover.

'I'm free!' I cried, coming into the kitchen. Roxy squealed and clapped her hands, squashing the blob of play dough with her fingers.

Georgia slid a sandwich across the kitchen bench towards me. 'Eat up.'

'Thanks.' I hadn't realised how hungry I was and ate the sandwich quickly. Just as I was about to get up, my mobile trilled. My hand immediately went to my pocket- where it usually was- and found nothing. 'Damn.'

'It's on the coffee table,' Jasper called from the hallway. 'Near the remote.'

Heading into the lounge at a run, I snatched my phone up, hit answer, tripped over the edge of the rug and landed on the couch.

'Annie?' Daniel's voice.

I rubbed my shin where I'd banged it against the edge of the couch. 'The one and only.'

'I know this is short notice but would you mind coming in and working for the rest of today? Oliver was here but after he emptied his stomach contents all over the floor, I told him to go home. Lorna's still up in Scotland and Niamh has the same bug as Oliver.'

'Um... No, that's fine. I can be there in' –I looked at my watch; took a wild guess- '20 minutes.'

'Great. Bye.' He hung up and I pocketed my phone.

Grabbing my bag from one of the armchairs, I walked into the kitchen again.

'I have to go into work,' I said to Georgia.

She looked up from wiping Roxy's hands. 'Oh. Oliver still sick?'

'Yeah. Apparently he vomited everywhere so Daniel told him to go home. Both of his other weekend workers are unavailable: one's on holidays and the other's sick as well.'

Dropping the cloth in the sink, Georgia smiled. 'So he called in you.'

'Yeah.' I gave her a quick hug and kissed Roxy's cheek. 'I'll see you soon.'

'Bye.' Georgia started to rinse out the cloth. 'Oh! Jasper had to go somewhere, but he said he'll pick you up at six tomorrow night.'

'Ok,' I called back from the front door.

Driving to work, I was suddenly struck by a question, and a fairly important one at that: Did Daniel know I was an MI5 officer? He and Harry went way back, as we'd told numerous times, but as to how much he knew... I'd just been taking it for granted that Daniel knew everything, but maybe Harry had simply said something about knowing someone who wanted work, i.e. me. Argh. Undercover work did your head in.

I entered _Green's Goods_ via the staff only back door, snagged an apron from the hook on the wall and brushed past the bead curtain. Daniel was wandering amongst the shelves, straightening cans.

'Hello,' I called.

He jumped and then answered: 'Don't do that.' Making his way back towards me, Daniel pocketed a small calculator. 'Thanks for coming in, Annie. I really appreciate it.'

'Any time.' I noticed the jumbled mess under the counter for the first time and sat cross-legged on the ground, preparing for a huge clean-up.

'Harry dropped by. Said to give you this.' A white envelope was waved in front of my face. I took it.

'Did he say what was in it?' I asked, turning the envelope over.

Daniel shook his head. 'Nope.' He continued past the counter and through the bead curtain. 'I'll be back here if you need me.'

I didn't answer, to busy reading the contents of the envelope:

_Amber,_

_Burn this after you've read it._

_Firstly, congratulations on making such enormous progress so quickly. The only other time we've tried to put an officer into this group- although that was years ago and in a different area- the officer's head was delivered to us by a courier who thought it was a birthday present. So you can obviously tell how happy and pleased I am. _

_Secondly, the shooting at the butchers. As soon as word of that reached us, I had two senior operatives banging on my door and demanding to know what I was thinking. Any time you want to be pulled out, just give the word. No one will think badly of you._

_Thirdly, I need more information. Anything, anything at all, that you can get I need it. Leave it in your letter box and someone will pick it up. You can correspond with me that way as well. Names dates, places... Anything. We've got a bit on the drug dealing side, but it's also important to focus on other bits. See if you can dig up anything for the terrorism and human trafficking aspects._

_Fourthly, keep your head. That was not meant as some sick and twisted joke from the first paragraph, either. Don't get too close to anyone involved in this because it'll just end in tears. _

_Fifthly, for God's sake don't get killed. _

_Harry_

I read the letter once more before balling it up in my fist and putting it in my jeans pocket. Evidence. How was I meant to get evidence without being suspicious?

Pens in one box, receipt rolls in another. Calculators in one tray, paper pads in another. An hour later everything was sorted and I was thoroughly bored. Sitting with my back against the counter, I scribbled a quick note to Harry and put it in my bag, mentally reminding myself to leave it in the letter box.

The shop bell tinkled for the first time since I'd arrived and I leapt up. Alex walked in, shopping list in hand. I had my suspicions that he wasn't just here to buy groceries. Fifteen minutes later he dumped two dozen items onto the counter and got out his wallet as I scanned them. Brainwave. He paid and I handed him the receipt, note tucked under it. Alex put the receipt in his wallet, picked up his grocery bags and left. So I didn't need to put the note in my letterbox after all.

With nothing left to do, my mind wandered back to the acquisition of evidence. Jasper wasn't that happy with me being involved with the drug deals, why would he jump at the chance to tell me all about the terrorism and human trafficking?

If there was any terrorism or human trafficking going on.

Jasper had said so himself; he'd started with drugs because they were easiest. He hadn't even _mentioned_ terrorism or trafficking. There wasn't even a whiff of either of them. I'd written that in my note to Harry, along with a brief recount of the deal I'd been a part of earlier and a few names of people that might be linked: Amelia, Donna and Dale.

Thinking about it now, I knew nothing. Well, I knew a bit, a tiny little bit. On a larger scale, my knowledge wasn't even represented by anything. For the first time I realised that I wasn't doing as good a job as I thought I was.

Angrily I grabbed a new receipt roll out of the drawer, flipped open the lid of the register and took the old roll out. Fitting the new one and making sure it worked took up less than a minute and I was quickly bored again.

'Something to do, something to do,' I muttered under my breath. I was considering the option of counting the number of zucchinis we had left in stock when my phone rang again.

'Hello?'

'It's Jasper.'

'What's wrong?' I'd immediately picked up on the worried tone in his voice.

'Nothing, well... No, don't worry about it,' he said. 'I'm so sorry but we're not going to be able to go to dinner tomorrow night.' There was a crash in the background and the sound of running feet.

'Are you ok?' My voice was rising in pitch and I forced it back to a more normal tone. 'What's going on?'

Jasper's breath came ragged, like he was running or had just run. 'Go stay with Georgia. I've spoken to her and explained everything. Please, Annie, for both your sakes, go spend the next few days with her. I'll see you on Saturday.' There was a shout and the tinkle of broken glass, then a brief silence before the dial tone sounded in my ear.

I hung up, utterly terrified. I wasn't worried so much about my own safety, but Jasper... Yes, I didn't have the slightest romantic interest in him, but I'd come to think of him as a really good friend and I was worried that something terrible was going to happen to him.

My phone beeped, yet again. This time a text message from Georgia:

_What time to do u finish work? Making casserole!_

I replied:

_Knock off at 5. 20 minutes to your place but need to get things from my flat first. YUM!_

After I sent the message, I looked at my watch. Still two hours to go and nothing to fill the time. I paced around the shop, straightening out stacks of cans and rows of boxes. Maybe I was turning into Li; unable to sit still for a minute, always needing to have some action going on. It was so frustrating.

Five o'clock finally rolled around and the night shift person, a sullen man called Dwayne, arrived. I said goodbye to Daniel and left, dropping into my flat on the way and gathering whatever fit into my bag.

The smell of casserole greeted me as I walked through the Price's front door.

'Wow,' I exclaimed as I walked into the kitchen. 'That smells awesome, Georgia.'

She beamed. 'Thanks. Perfect timing on both our parts. Sit down.' A spoon was waved in the direction of the kitchen bench.

We ate in silence for a few minutes, then Georgia must have realised what was on my mind.

'It's nothing to worry about, Annie.'

I pushed a piece of potato around my plate with my fork. 'I know, it's just...'

'After years and years of it, you learn to shut the worry out.' Georgia sipped her water. 'On other news, Donna dropped by while you were at work. Said she'd love it if you came to her and Dale's wedding on Saturday.' She laughed at my expression. 'Yes, I know. _I only just met them_. Donna's like that. So's Dale as a matter of fact. There's a little church out of town a bit, about five minutes or so from here I think, that they're having it at. Meant to be a small service, but we'll see.'

After dinner we played poker, yet again. I'd actually become quite good at it, though that didn't mean much considering my pathetic abilities before Georgia took me under her wing and taught me properly. Harry was a whiz at anything involving cards and he was always trying to get us to have a game of something with him. I'd have to take him up on that offer once this mission was over.

Thinking about that- the mission's impending end- caused me much more guilt than I expected. For the first time I realised that I was going to utterly destroy the lives of two people- no, three if I counted Roxy- I'd come to care about. Jasper and Georgia would be in jail for a very long time, that was a given. As to dear little Roxy's fate... The guilt doubled until it was almost crippling at the thought of Roxy going into foster care, shut off completely from her mom, shunted from one temporary home to the next. Yes, she might be safer in foster care, but she'd be unhappy- no, miserable- and she wouldn't get even _half_ the love that she got from her mom and uncle.

'Annie!' Georgia had sprung up from her seat across from me. 'You ok?'

I hadn't even noticed I'd dropped my cards and was gasping for breath.

'Yeah,' I managed to force out. 'I'm fine.' Gathering up my cards, I pushed the thoughts of Roxy, Jasper and Georgia's futures out of my head and shot Georgia a pleading look. 'Let's just keep playing. Please.'


	6. Blood Wedding

**Chapter Six: Blood Wedding**

'Donna, calm.' Georgia grinned and patted Donna's hair one last time, stepping back to take in the combination of carefully applied make-up and half an hour of hairstyling. I dropped the comb that Georgia had been using back into the bag and joined Georgia.

'You look amazing, Donna,' I exclaimed, not in the least bit exaggerating.

Donna regarded herself critically in the mirror. 'Sure?'

'Positive,' Georgia and I agreed.

'I don't usually make this much of a fuss over clothing and such but-'

'It's your wedding,' Georgia said firmly. 'You're meant to make a fuss.' She busied herself with tidying away all the bottles and jars we'd had out and it was only then I thought about what Georgia must have been going through. I gave her shoulder a squeeze, remembering what she'd told me about her and Roxy's dad. Tears in her eyes, Georgia shook her head, almost in her own world. After taking a deep breath, she turned around and smiled.

'Ready?'

Donna smiled in return, her eyes flickering from Georgia to me. 'As I'll ever be.'

* * *

We'd just arrived at the church when I spotted a familiar face. 'Jasper!' I called. He spun around and I waved a hand. As he made his slow way towards me, I frowned. Was he limping slightly?

When he reached me, I gave him a tight hug and he kissed my cheek lightly. That was when I saw his bandaged hand and a new bruise on his jaw. Stepping back, I could hear the worry in my voice as I said, 'You ok?'

Jasper nodded, shifting slightly so his weight was on his left foot. 'Don't worry about me.' He took hold of my hand and we walked into the church. As Jasper swayed with each step and tried hard to put as little weight as possible on his right leg, I gathered that the injured hand and bruised jaw weren't the only injuries he'd sustained since Sunday afternoon.

Despite Georgia's doubts, there were only thirty people or so in the church. Jasper hesitated at the doorway.

'What?' I asked.

'Don't know where to sit.'

I was confused for a split second before realising he meant which side: bride or groom's.

'Who do you know better?'

Jasper shrugged. 'I met them at the same time.' Sizing up the amount of people on each side, he sidled towards Donna's side adding, 'I'm probably a bit closer to Donna any way.'

We sat down, just as Georgia rushed up to me holding a squirming Roxy.

'Watch her for me, will you?' she asked, not giving me much option in the matter as she thrust Roxy into my arms and ran off. Roxy grumbled for a minute before I popped her dummy into her mouth.

'Be a good girl, Roxy,' I whispered as music started playing and Donna emerged at the back of the church. 'Gotta be quiet.'

No traditional _da, da, dada, da, da, dada_ for Donna and Dale. Donna walked down the aisle with _White Wedding_ blaring from some hidden speakers. The two bridesmaids- I only recognised them as Amelia and Georgia at the very last minute- followed, along with two young girls, the flower girls, skipping behind them. It all looked so idyllic, so peaceful, so perfect, like nothing could possibly go wrong.

About five seconds after I had that thought, Donna screamed and staggered backwards, falling to the ground. Her beautiful white wedding dress was no longer just white; a blood red was oozing along the fabric, starting near her stomach and slowly spreading. Dale was at her side in an instant.

'She's been shot!' he shouted, falling to the ground next to his fiancé. 'For Christ's sake, someone call a bloody ambulance!' Dale's voice dropped in volume as he ripped his suit jacket off and made it into a wad, pushing it down on the wound. I turned away, hugging Roxy close, almost unaware of the chaos surrounding me. The person who'd shot Donna must have used a silencer; no one had even been aware that something was wrong until Donna had screamed. A shiver rippled down my spine as my eyes started to dart about of their own accord. A gun with a silencer fitted couldn't fire a bullet over the same distance that a gun without a silencer could. That meant that the shooter had to be very close by.

'Jasper, the-' I broke off as I realised Jasper was no longer by my side. Spinning around, I raised my voice over the increasing pandemonium. 'Jasper!'

Amelia, who had collapsed onto one of the benches when Donna had fallen, pointed with one shaking hand towards the back of the church. Her lips moved but I couldn't hear the words.

'What?' I yelled.

'That way,' Amelia said, her voice shaking.

Still holding Roxy tightly, I sprinted the way Amelia had pointed, not really knowing what I was running into. The church was on a slight hill, woods to the left, near the car park, and a road running along the front. A black van pulled away from the edge of the road as I tore down the hill, but I didn't even make a connection until a familiar Astra roared out of the car park.

'Jasper!' I bawled as the Astra got closer and closer. Through the window, I could see Jasper's face turn towards me, his eyes growing wider as he recognised me. The car squealed as he stomped on the brakes.

'Get in,' he gasped as I pulled the door open. No baby seat in the back and no time meant Roxy would have to get strapped in on my lap. Despite the constant jolting she'd been getting during my mad dash down the hill, her eye were half closed, her head lolling.

Jasper had pulled out onto the road as soon as my bum was on the seat. I slammed the door shut, pulling the seatbelt across Roxy and me. Looking at Jasper's face, I suddenly understood why he was driving so radically. I suddenly understood what the black van had been doing parked on the quiet country lane.

'They've got Georgia,' I said, my flat and almost accepting tone coming as a surprise to my ears.

Jasper's expression flickered through anger, pain and frustration, finally settling on stubborn. 'Not for long.'

Darkness was falling, settling over the land like a heavy blanket. Why did things seem so much scarier at night? Things you wouldn't think twice about during the day suddenly were terrifying. Despite the failing light, Jasper drove like a maniac, taking corners at break-neck speed, not even using the brakes.

'Do you know where we're going?' I asked.

For a few seconds Jasper remained quiet. I somehow instinctively knew that he wasn't just concentrating on his driving. When he did answer, it was in a quiet, sad voice. 'I know where they would've taken Georgia, but there's something we have to do first.'

With no idea what he was talking about, I stayed silent.

Five minutes later Jasper pulled up near a small house. We were out of London, in a quiet area, at night and there weren't any cars on the road. Jasper left the car running but got out and came around to my side, opening the door for me.

'Hop out,' he murmured. I obeyed, wondering what was going on.

As I stood up, Roxy still sleeping in my arms, Jasper held out a small basket and a thick pink blanket.

'This is where my foster parents, Glenn and Vivian, live.' Jasper gently took Roxy from my arms and wrapped her in the blanket, lowering her carefully into the basket when the pink fabric was tucked snugly around her. 'Georgia made me promise, even before Roxy was born, that if anything happened to her, that if things got too dangerous, I'd bring Roxy here. Vivian and Glenn will love her like she's their own daughter and they won't ask any questions. She'll be safer here.'

Wordlessly, I took the basket from Jasper, noticing the small luggage tag attached to handle reading _My name is Roxanne (Roxy)_. There was no doubt: this had been planned way beforehand.

Walking slowly and quietly up to the front door, I felt a mixture of emotions. It just about tore me in two having to leave Roxy there, unsure if she _would_ be ok, but I also felt a responsibility, not just to give Roxy the best possible future, but also to carry out Georgia's wishes. I knew without a shadow of doubt that Georgia loved Roxy more than anything in the world, that she'd give up everything, her _life_ even, to make sure her daughter was safe and happy. I suppose that saying, something about the hardest part of loving someone is letting them go, is correct.

After I'd put Roxy, sleeping soundly in the basket, on the doorstep, I thumbed the doorbell and sprinted for the car, leaping into the passenger seat as Jasper drove it slowly past. As the Astra gathered speed, I peered out the window, just in time to see a woman- guessing it was Vivian- bending down to gather Roxy in her arms.

Half an hour later, Jasper parked in an alley and announced, 'We walk from here.'

Not even bothering to complain or even question why, I climbed out of the car and followed him. Half in a daze, I had no idea where we were going. The thought that maybe this was a really stupid thing I was doing occurred to me just once, but I quickly pushed it aside, along with the thought that I should have called Harry and told him where I was going. Whatever.

How long did we walk for? Five minutes? Ten minutes? Half an hour? I had absolutely no idea. The one thing I did know was we were near the Thames, on the outskirts of a container shipment yard. Huge, metal, rectangular prisms were arranged in neat rows as far as the eye could see, which turned out to not actually be that far since it was almost pitch black and there were barely any lights on.

'This is where Georgia is?' I whispered in Jasper's ear. He nodded, pointing to a container that looked exactly like the rest.

'That one. There's a trapdoor in the floor of it, with a tunnel leading into a building. That's where they'll be holding Georgia.'

Despite the fact that these people were the enemy, I couldn't help but be very impressed by the construction feat.

'Jasper?' I hissed as he started to get up.

'What?'

'How do you know about the container and the tunnel and the building?'

He tapped the side of his nose. 'Hours and hours of surveillance can be incredibly boring but you learn a lot.'

We moved forward, keeping at a crouch and using the numerous containers as cover. When we reached "the Container" Jasper dropped to his knees and started to run his hand alongside one small area.

'Where is it? Where is it?' he chanted. His tone was starting to border on stressed when there was a _ping_ and a little flap fell open. Jasper dove through it and I followed, admittedly with a lot less grace.

Once I'd clambered through, Jasper pulled me out of the way and shut the flap. Finding the trapdoor, also hidden, was a lot simpler. Jasper started to crawl around, running his hands along the floor as apposed to lifting them up and within seconds he'd found the hatch.

'Give me a hand, Annie,' he grunted, struggling to lift it up. Smart ass that I am, I took a step forward and undid the bolt holding the trapdoor down. Jasper was still pulling at the hatch with all his strength and, as the bolt slid free, the hatch flung open, causing Jasper to land flat on his back. I started to laugh, clapping a hand over my mouth in an attempt to squash down the complete hysterics that were building up. Tension did that to me. Give me a slightly funny situation and suddenly I was on the ground, crying with laughter while everyone else stood around shaking their heads and trying to decided whether to give me a paper bag or not.

Jasper rolled his eyes and pushed me down into the hole that was now gracing the middle of the container.

'It's not nice to laugh at other people's misfortune, Annie,' he muttered, though a smile gave him away. I grinned back, dropping the twenty inches or so to the tunnel floor.

'Dark in here,' I hissed upwards. My voice echoed slightly and I quickly shut up, deciding not to speak again. Jasper used the ladder fixed to the side of the tunnel, pulling the trapdoor shut after him. Suddenly _dark_ seemed such an inappropriate word.

Jasper took hold of my hand and we made our slow, careful way along the tunnel. Each time Jasper dragged me around a corner, I hoped with all my heart that the stupid tunnel would end.

It didn't.

After a long, _long _time, we rounded the final corner.

'I see the light,' I exclaimed.

Jasper squeezed my hand as we walked down the last few metres of tunnel, heading straight towards the people who's one wish was to see us dead.

* * *

Valerie sprinted down the hallway, her long blonde hair escaping the tie that held it back. Her boss was going to flip when he heard and as much as she wanted to avoid the fit that was sure to follow her announcement, Valerie knew that time was something which she didn't have.

'When are they going to fix that stupid elevator?' she growled, taking the stairs two at a time. The fourth floor seemed to be miles away and yet right in front of her at the same time. Harry Field's office was behind the last door on the right. Taking a huge breath and attempting to smooth her hair back into what resembled a ponytail, Valerie knocked on the door.

'Enter!' boomed Harry in a cheerful voice.

Valerie pushed the door open and entered, forcing her lips into a tight smile. 'Hello, sir.'

Harry looked up from his cluttered desk, a welcoming smile on his face. 'Valerie! I haven't seen you for ages. How are you? Sit down. Want a tea? Coffee? Maggie can-'

'Please, sir. This isn't a social visit,' Valerie interrupted. 'I was assigned to keep a look out for the officer- Amber, is it?- that you have undercover at the moment.' Valerie took another deep, shuddering breath, lowering her gaze from Harry's face to the floor. 'I was in heavy traffic and suddenly she wasn't there any more. Your target was driving a blue Astra with Amber in the passenger seat. She looked a bit dazed, sir.'

'What are you trying to say?'

Valerie bit her lip. 'Amber's dropped off the radar, sir. We have no idea where she is.'


	7. I Just Shot John Lennon

**A/N There is a lot of swapping in this chapter from Amber's POV to third person and back again. Thought it was time to see a bit more of the rest of Alpha Force, though they'll be making a continuous appearance most likely starting middle of next chapter or the chapter after.**

**Chapter Seven: I Just Shot John Lennon**

For Harry, the next two hours were the most painful of his life. The same senior operatives who had approached him after the first shooting were back. And they wanted answers, answers that Harry was completely powerless to provide. Maybe that would have bearable, just, but Li, Alex, Hex and Paulo arrived. They didn't demand to know what was going on, or dump the blame squarely on his shoulders. Maybe it would have been better if they had. Anything would have been better than having to watch them sitting in silence in his office.

Li's forehead was puckered in anxiety, her eyes worried. Normally the most happy and energetic out of all his officers, Harry found it utterly depressing seeing the petite young woman so silent and upset.

Paulo and Alex had almost identical expressions of calm on their faces. Like Li, their eyes betrayed their worry, but their faces were smooth masks of feigned indifference, Paulo's a bit more transparent than Alex's. What good would it do to get all emotional or start hurling abuse at people?

Harry was completely baffled by Hex's expression, or, to be more accurate, lack of. Considering how uptight he'd been about this mission in the first place, Harry had been mentally prepared for the barrage of abuse that he was almost certain would follow the four friends' arrival. It was almost creepy how blank Hex's face was.

As the senior operatives left, Harry groaned and dropped his head onto the desk.

'Have you contacted the police, Harry?' Li said softly, breaking the tense silence.

Raising his head, Harry replied, 'Yeah.' He looked at the four young adults siting across the room. 'I'm not going to lie to you, but it's not looking good.'

Panic flickered across everyone's faces.

'How so?' Alex asked.

Harry chewed the inside of his cheek nervously. 'Valerie, the officer who was following Amber and Jasper when they disappeared, said that the last time she saw Amber she looked upset and Jasper had a really angry look on his face. It could be nothing, though,' Harry added in a rush. 'This could all be a complete misunderstanding and at this very moment they're enjoying a lovely candlelit dinner in a posh restaurant.' Harry gave his officers a tight smile. 'It could be nothing.' _God, I hope it's nothing. _

* * *

The building seemed to be deserted, though I knew better than to let that fool me for even a split second. Jasper poked his head out from the tunnel and twisted to look left and right.

'Come on,' he whispered before running bent double to a stack of wooden crates across the room. I followed, heart in my mouth.

Ducking down behind the crates, I was about to ask Jasper if he actually had a plan of some form or another when I heard footsteps. Placing my finger against my lips I shuffled further back into the crates.

'Spiteful little bitch.' A man with a gruff, gravely voice snapped the words and then possibly kicked something, judging by the sound of splintering wood.

There was a laugh. 'Got ya right on the snoz, Mike.'

Mike growled. 'Shut your trap, Vince, or you can forget about your cut. Just you remember who the brains around here is.'

'Yeah, yeah.'

The two men appeared to have parted ways, with the sound of feet moving to both the left and the right. Beside me, Jasper was coiled tighter than a spring, his jaw clenched and teeth grinding. I put my hand on his arm and shook my head, hoping that my whole expression was saying _calm_. He didn't lose the verge-of-suicide expression but he did relax a bit. Without meaning any offence to Georgia, as soon as Mike had said _spiteful little bitch_, I'd somehow immediately known they were referring to Georgia. Good on her for whacking him in the face, but it was also worrying; if she'd fought back instead of going quietly, what had they done to her?

What would we have done next? Stormed the building with our army of imaginary fighters? Crept quietly from room to room, searching for Georgia, finding her and then melting away into the night? I never found out because at that exact moment, a gun was jabbed into my back and a voice was saying, 'And what have we here?'

* * *

'Any news?'

Harry looked up blearily, his eyes half closed. 'Huh?'

'Any news?' Alex was standing in front of him, arms crossed.

'Not yet,' Harry replied. 'She was meant to inform me if she was going any where.' He ran a hand through his tousled hair, his hand sticky in a large clump of knots.

'You know Amber. She's independent, doesn't like being told what to do.'

'But that was a safety measure designed so she'd be safer,' Harry snapped.

Alex sat down in a chair across from Harry. 'Why are you beating yourself up about this? It's not your fault.'

'Whose fault is it then, Alex?' Harry asked.

'No one's. There are some things in life you can't control. You can't just make your way through life, blaming everyone for everything.'

Harry leaned back and closed his eyes. 'Is that why I'm not getting sworn at and having rotten fruit thrown at me?'

'Yeah.' Alex laughed. 'Like you said, Harry: Amber's perfectly capable of looking after herself. She'll show up.'

* * *

'Let go of me!' I screeched, attempting one of Li's custom martial arts moves and failing miserably. Jasper was taking our capture quietly, which really worried me. His blank, almost uncaring expression reminded me of pictures of suicide bombers. Four guys were escorting us along a hallway, two on either side of each of us.

'Come on then.' The guy holding my left arm smirked and pushed open a large door. 'Boss wants to see you.'

* * *

'They were spotted heading down a side street about twenty minutes after Val lost sight of them.' Nancy Lincoln reached across the map lying flat on the desk and rested the tip of her finger on a street. Moving it along the map, Nancy added, 'The witness saw them continue along this road, but lost sight of them as they turned the corner.' She brought her finger to a stop, waited for a split second before lifting her hand and sitting back. 'Our best bet is to start around there. Police are combing the streets, doing doorknocks...' Nancy looked at her assembled audience. Li, Alex, Hex and Paulo were seated to one side of her, faces grim and concentrated. Harry, Valerie and two other officers, Neil Blake and Mara Hunter, were perched on chairs on the opposite side. 'We're now treating this as an abduction. It's crucial that we find Amber before Jasper does something stupid.'

'What if it's not an abduction, but?' Mara looked at Nancy. 'We'll blow Amber's cover.'

Nancy didn't hesitate in her answer. 'That's a risk we'll have to take. We don't find Amber soon, then there's a very great chance that we won't be finding her ever.'

* * *

'Lovely of you to drop in, Jasper.' Bald, dressed in black leather, sitting on a swivel chair and stroking a white Persian cat. How stereotypical could this guy get? 'And you've bought a friend! How perfectly splendid.' The man had a very slight German accent.

'Luis,' Jasper snarled. 'Should have known our paths would cross again.'

Luis stood up, his cat still cradled in his arms. 'Aren't you going to introduce me to your companion?'

'Annie, this is Luis. Luis, Annie.' Jasper looked sideways and shook his arm slightly. 'How about telling your goons to nick off? Promise we won't go anywhere.'

'Of course.' Luis waved a hand at the four guards and they left. 'Please,' he said. 'Sit.'

We found two chairs and sat in front of Luis. Jasper seemed almost at ease, lounging comfortably in his seat. I, on the other hand, was a nervous wreck, my leg jigging in place and fingers drumming on the armrest.

'Now, Jasper,' Luis began. He'd sat back down and his eyes were now fixed on Jasper. 'You have spoiled my little plan.'

'Shame.' Jasper sounded anything but remorseful.

'Yes, it is a shame. You see, I was simply going to use your charming sister as a bargaining chip. You hand over your patch and I hand over her. However, due to your arrival, I now need to reformulate my plan.' Luis gently set his cat on the floor. It mewed once and then trotted off, its tail waving over its back. 'Pity really, because my new plan works more in my favour than in yours.'

'What do you mean?' Jasper asked, his voice ringing with contempt.

'Well, with my previous plan, you got your sister back safe and sound and I got your patch. Win-win situation I think. Now, it's a win-lose situation. I get your patch, but neither you, nor your sister, nor your girlfriend are going to make it out of here alive.' Luis grinned, showing two rows of gleaming white teeth. 'Win-win for me, really.'

* * *

Li paced across up and down the hallway, her footsteps echoing. At the start, when Harry had first told them about Amber, she hadn't been worried at all. Well, a bit, but she'd been positive that it had all been a mistake and Amber was alright. Hours had past and darkness was falling and there had still been no sighting of Amber. She hadn't even tried to contact them, something that Li knew she'd do if she was able to. Something was wrong, seriously wrong.

Sighing, Li stopped pacing and sat in one of the chairs plonked in the corridor. Paulo, Alex and Hex were seated in the other chairs, with only Hex still awake.

'You ok?' Li asked softly.

Hex looked up sharply. 'Why wouldn't I be?'

Stifling the urge to shake Hex, Li just shrugged. 'I know you worry about Amber, that's all.'

Hex didn't answer and Li gave up trying to have a conversation with him. Waiting was one thing she couldn't handle. Jumping up, Li started to pace again. Anything to relieve the boredom and keep the anxiety at bay.

* * *

Luis showed us into a spacious room with windows high up near the ceiling. In the centre of the room was a large pit. Suspended above the pit were two lengths of rope and chain: rope at the top, chain in the middle and a tiny rope noose at the bottom. I started to see where this was going.

Moving to the edge of the pit, Luis clapped his hands in glee. 'Come, come,' he cried. 'Step forward and meet my little darlings.'

I didn't want to step forward, but somehow I found myself moving to stand alongside Luis, Jasper at my side. The pit would have been about eight metres deep. It, like Luis himself, was straight out of a James Bond film. Black water filled the pit's bottom. Every now and then there was a disturbance on the surface, as if something was swimming under the water.

'Just in case you're both a little slow,' Luis explained, 'you're going to be tethered by your ankles over this pit.' He pointed above to the rope and chains and then down at the pit. 'Slowly, ever so slowly, you will be lowered down to your death. The joyous part is, my little darlings will start to eat you while you're still alive.' He trilled happily and clapped his hands together once.

'What, may I ask, _are_ your little darlings?' I said slowly.

Luis raised his eyebrows, seeming almost surprised that I didn't know. 'Piranhas, of course. Straight from the Amazon.' With a contented sigh, his gaze settled fondly on the hidden fish in the pit. 'Thirty tenacious little fish, hungry and keen for fresh meat.'

The four men who had escorted Jasper and me to Luis in the first place had reappeared. The grabbed us again, while a fifth man moved to the wall and pressed one of the buttons there. There was a squeal as the crane holding the suspended ropes swung towards us, lowering the two lengths of rope and chain down as it did.

'You're insane,' Jasper spat as two of the "Goonies" crouched down next to him and secured the ropes around hi ankles. The same thing happened to me and I tried not to think about how much this was going to hurt. Not to mention what having my fingers nibbled off by piranhas was going to feel like.

The fifth guy pressed a button while the other four gripped our shoulders and held us up, horizontally off the ground. Slowly, painfully slowly, the crane winched upwards, taking the slack of the rope and chain combo. When my feet were a god deal higher than my head, the two heavies holding onto my shoulders let go and I was left swinging by my feet. Almost immediately my legs started to throb as my entire weight was held simply by my ankles. I gritted my teeth and ignored, or attempted to ignore, the pain. Luis and the five men left.

To start with, our gradual descent wasn't noticeable. After five minutes, I realised that the windows weren't as close as they had been. Our situation was depressing and yet hilarious. It was almost as if Jasper and I had waltzed onto a movie set and were now unwilling extras. Why villains never killed their enemies quickly and without fanfare had always been a puzzle to me, but now I was grateful.

'Jasper,' I whispered. 'What are you doing?'

Breaking away from my musings, I'd suddenly realised that Jasper wasn't just sitting back- hanging down- and accepting his impending death. He'd swung up and grasped his feet, using his muscles and the rope to climb up a good twenty inches or so. He now had some slack and he was making fairly good progress up the rope. Half the way up the chain, Jasper paused for a breather. I could see his whole body shaking and understood how much of an effort it was taking him. I swung on the end of my chain and tried to reach up and snatch a hold of the rope. On the fifth try, I got it. My stomach muscles were aching and, with the blood pounding in my ears, I felt very light headed. Unfortunately, as I attempted to start the long climb up the chain, my fingers slipped and I ended up swinging upside down again. I cussed.

Jasper had noticed my feeble attempt.

'Don't move, Annie,' he hissed. 'Stay there. I'll climb up the top of the rope and cut myself free. That was one area Luis always failed: checking for hidden weapons. Once I'm free, I'll go along the crane and get you down. Ok? Don't panic. It'll be fine.'

I was about to respond with a _I'm __not__ panicking_, when I discovered that I was actually in the early stages of a panic attack. My breathing was super fast, like I'd just sprinted a great distance, and sweat positively dripped down my face. I tried to slow my breathing and ignore the sweat. Why was I panicking? There was plenty of time left and Jasper was in more danger than me at the moment. Once he was cut free, he'd have to climb along and then down the carne without as much as a safety net underneath him. The crane was at least twenty metres in the air, at least, and the floor was concrete.

'Be careful,' I called. He didn't answer, now having reached the top rope section and needing all his concentration and strength to continue.

The pit of doom was getting closer and closer. I willed Jasper along silently, feeling utterly useless, just hanging there while he risked his life. There was a muffled curse from behind me, followed by a thud. I twisted my head around and saw Jasper picking himself up off the floor, scowling and muttering something. He looked my way and gave a sudden grin, making his way towards the control panel. I relaxed, turning back to face the front.

'Jasper!' I shrieked. I'd suddenly dropped almost two metres, my head now completely in the pit.

'Bugger. Wrong switch.' I could no longer see Jasper and had only the scuffing sounds of his feet moving over the concrete floor to go on.

There was a slight scream and then the crane started to swing left.

'Mind your head!' Jasper called, his face appearing in my line of sight. I jerked my head out of the way as the crane swung me out of the pit and back onto solid ground. Doing a handstand while Jasper untied my feet, I had a moment to reflect on the situation. One thing, no _two_ things, kept spinning around in my head. _Where was Georgia _and _how the hell were we going to get out_?

'Done.'

I lowered my legs, sighing in relief. Standing up quickly turned out to be a very bad idea. My vision swam and I staggered about for a moment before Jasper steadied me.

'Ok?' he asked.

Deciding against nodding, I said, 'Right as rain.'

When my head had cleared and I was capable of walking again, we moved to the door we'd come in through. Jasper poked his head around the door, paused for a moment and then pulled his head back.

'There're some windows near the ceiling and some scaffolding near the windows. We'll go out through there.' He started forward but I grabbed his arm.

'Georgia,' I whispered. 'What about Georgia?'

Jasper looked pained. 'She'll have to wait. This has nothing to do with you, Annie, and it's not right that you should go through all this because of me.' He took a deep breath. 'Come on.'

The scaffolding was very close to the windows; we'd have to do a leap of faith to get out the window but all in all it was rather convenient. But nothing is ever simple, is it? Near the top of the scaffolding, there was a shout from below. Ah. The goons had woken up and realised that all was not well.

A bullet pinging off the scaffolding below startled me into action. Jasper yanked me up the last platform and we ducked behind some crates.

'You know how to fire a gun?' Jasper asked, pulling two guns out of some pocket hidden in his jacket.

I gulped. 'Yeah.' What had Harry said towards the end of our last mission? _Whether you like it or not, one day you're going to have to shoot someone to kill_. Or something like that. This was "one day".

I darted out from behind the crates and aimed the gun at the closest heavy. Round glasses and wispy blonde hair, he was the spitting image of John Lennon. I closed my eyes- not a very wise move when you're about to shoot someone- and pulled the trigger. A scream told me that, despite my lack of visual contact, I'd hit him. I scuttled back behind the crates, feeling like I wanted to vomit. I kept telling myself over and over again that these people were the enemy and that they were going to kill us if we didn't kill them, but it didn't make me feel any better.

Jasper had no such qualms. He fired bullet after bullet, not really caring if he hit anyone or not. He tapped my shoulder and pointed up. I handed him back the gun and quickly climbed the last bit of scaffolding, pulling myself up onto the narrow ledge running along in front of the windows. Jasper joined me a few seconds later and we crawled towards the only window that had cover. Just as we were about to slip through it, Luis' voice made us stop.

'Have a look at this before you go.'

'If you've put a bow in kitty's fur then-' Jasper's words stuck in his throat as he turned back around. I'd still been facing the window, wondering what the time was and I spun around slowly.

I wanted to scream, I would have screamed, but my throat wouldn't work. My mouth turned to sawdust and tears pricked the backs of my eyes. Gripping Jasper's shoulder, I managed to not fall out the window and I also stopped Jasper from leaping down the scaffolding and strangling Luis with his bare hands.

Georgia dangled from a rope on the other side of the room, about halfway from the ceiling and the floor. Her white top was red, her hair matted with blood and dirt and her eyes huge in her pale face. Luis cackled from somewhere on the ground and I felt Jasper tense up.

'Jasper,' I said softly, looking away from the horrible spectacle. 'Come on.' I tugged on his arm. 'Come on,' I repeated firmly.

'This isn't over, Luis,' Jasper called, his voice cracking slightly.

As we climbed through the window, Luis' parting words drifted after us. 'On the contrary, Price. It's only just begun.'

**A/N I'm still fiddling over the actual ending events for this story but I think I have a fairly good idea of what will happen. A few more chapters should be coming along over the next couple of weeks and then it'll be done. Thanks to lepidopteran for your constant reviews and supportive and helpful comments. I really appreciate it. **


	8. Deep Water

**A/N Short chapter, but next one should be longer. **

**Chapter Eight: Deep Water**

We drove away in silence. Jasper's face was blank and he focused intently on his driving. I envied him; he was able to completely immerse himself in something while all I could do was stare out the window and try to keep the mental images from returning. Just like after Keisha was killed, I couldn't even close my eyes for a second without seeing- I shook my head and started to recite my twelve times tables mentally. _One twelve is twelve. Two twelves are twenty-four. Three twelves are thirty-six. Four twelves are forty-eight. Five twelves are..._

We were getting closer to my flat and I was suddenly gripped by absolute terror.

'Jasper,' I managed to gasp. He looked at me sharply. 'Are we in any danger?'

He answered without hesitation. 'No. They won't try anything else.'

This announcement did nothing to quell my anxiety. 'Are you sure?'

'Yeah.' Jasper looked sideway at me again, seeming to sense that I wasn't the most cool, calm and collected person right at that moment. 'You ok?'

'Fine,' I said through gritted teeth. A second later, without really thinking about what I was saying, I blurted, 'Can I stay with you?'

There was a brief pause, during which I repeatedly cursed myself for that question. I had meant it purely as a rather selfish request- I didn't want to be alone right at the moment- but would Jasper interpret it that way?

Finally, he said, 'Sure. The spare room's already made up.'

Breathing a gentle sigh of relief, I settled back in my seat, feeling a bit better.

The rest of the drive passed in silence. We arrived at Jasper's place. I tried not to think about how quiet the house was now. No Roxy screeching. No Georgia laughing. Just empty silence, never ending. Jasper immediately headed for his room upstairs after locking the front door behind him. I made my way down the corridor to the spare room, collapsing on the bed suddenly feeling totally drained. Lying on my back, I stared at the white ceiling, unable to stop the images from flowing through my head. God, I hate crying, but I couldn't help it. With tears streaming down my cheeks and soaking into the pillow, I fell into a fitful sleep, haunted by nightmares I couldn't control.

* * *

It was only in the early hours of the morning that I realised I should have called Harry. I'd disappeared without warning and I'd probably caused Harry to have a bit of a heart attack, not to mention what my friends would have been going through.

I scribbled a quick note to Jasper and left, walking for about ten minutes or so before I decided to call for a cab. When it arrived, I gave the cabbie my address and stared out the window, watching the scenery change as we got further into the city.

I didn't bother calling Harry to let him know I was coming in, just hopped in my car and drove to Headquarters. I arrived and slipped in through the back entrance, managing to get up to the fourth floor without being seen. Harry's office was behind the last door on the left. I walked quickly up to it, hesitated, but then decided against knocking, opened the door and walked in.

Harry was seated behind his desk, head bent over a pile of paperwork. He didn't look up as I entered, but the four other people in the room did. Someone cried, 'Oh thank God,' and before I knew it I was being crushed as Li, Alex, Paulo and Hex rushed towards me and hugged me tightly. Harry's head snapped up and I was shocked by his face. Sleep-deprived, bloodshot eyes set deeply in a pale face made Harry almost unrecognisable. No smile on Harry's face any more, just a worried half-frown.

'What the heck were you playing at?' he snapped, but his voice wobbled at the end and his eyes were relieved, not angry. My friends had released me, so I stood as straight as possible and gave him a weak smile, not answering.

Harry's gaze switched from my dirty clothes to my friends, now standing beside me. 'Can you four leave us for a moment?'

For a split second it looked like Li was going to protest, but Paulo and Alex took a firm hold on her arms and pulled her back from Harry's desk, towards the door. As the door banged shut behind them, I faced Harry again. He smiled, but it was almost sadly.

'What?' I asked. 'What's happened?'

'I think I should be the one asking _you_ that, Amber.'

I took a moment to get my thoughts in order. 'Georgia was kidnapped at Donna and Dale's wedding. Jasper knew where they took her, so we went after them. We were captured, but we escaped. Georgia-' I blinked back the tears and tried again. 'Georgia didn't make it.'

Harry looked at me for a long moment before he said flatly, 'You're out.'

'What?'

'I'm pulling you from this mission.'

Panic gripped me. 'No,' I gabbled. 'No, Harry. Please. You can't do this. I've put so much into this mission, you can't-' Realisation dawned. 'You don't think I can handle it, do you?'

Harry shook his head. 'No, Amber. That's not it at all. If I didn't think you were capable, I wouldn't have put you into this mission in the first place. Why does it matter if you're pulled or not? None of your work will go to waste; we're arresting Jasper and two senior officers will be put in another group with connections to Jasper.' His eyes seemed to sharpen as he focused intently on my expression. 'Are you still regarding this mission professionally?'

'Yes,' I snapped, outraged he'd even _suggest_ something like that.

'Good.' Harry's eyes softened. 'I'm sorry, Amber, but the decisions been made. You said so yourself, Jasper isn't involved with the trafficking or the terrorism. There's no reason for you to be undercover, in danger, any more. Alright?'

'Alright,' I mumbled.

'Good girl. Now go tell Jasper that you're breaking it off with him, moving to Iceland, whatever.'

I nodded, smiling slightly despite myself. That was a flash of the old Harry back. I stood up and hurried out, wondering how I was going to do this.

* * *

For five minutes I sat in my car outside Jasper's house, running through various excuses in my head. Despite what I had said to Harry, I hated myself for what I was about to do, what I was about to put Jasper through.

Taking deep, shaky breaths, I pushed the front door open and walked inside.

'Jasper?' I called. A shiver rippled down my spine; the house was cold, really cold. I walked down the hall and into the lounge room, frowning. 'Jasper?'

A sudden thought came to mind and I bolted out of the lounge room and up the stairs to the second floor.

'Jasper!' I was beginning to panic. When, on a quick inspection, I found the whole second story to be empty, I didn't know what to think. Where was Jasper? If he'd left by choice, why hadn't he locked the front door?

Back downstairs, in the kitchen, I was able to breath easier again. My note was nowhere to be found, but a scrap of paper with Jasper's familiar scribble was fluttering across the kitchen bench.

_Annie,_

_Gone to see Dale. Be back later. _

I screwed the paper up into a ball and flicked it into the bin. So, my excuse would have to wait. I was still fuming over Harry's decision; I just needed more time and I was _sure_ Jasper would reveal that he was involved with other activities besides drugs. My gaze drifted to the bin and the note that was nestled in it. _Be back later_. Maybe, just maybe.

Once again, I raced up the stairs and down the hallway to the end room. Jasper's office. Normally it was locked, or so I'd been told by Georgia, so I had a very lucky break when it opened. Not really knowing what I was searching for, I started to sift through each of the filing cabinets, shelves and drawers. Ten minutes in, I hit gold. Looking through the papers, I shook my head in disbelief, shocked by the sense of betrayal I felt.

'Idiot,' I muttered, staring at the files. Jasper's future was now clutched in my hands. What was I going to do? Whether I gave this evidence to Harry or not, my mission ended. The difference was Jasper being put away for drug related charges only, or drugs, terrorism and trafficking. Pushing down the guilty feelings, I stuffed the papers in my backpack and hurried down the stairs. I had to get this lot to Harry now, before I told Jasper I was going.

The sound of the door opening made my heart freeze. For a split second I stood motionless, eyes huge with fear, before I quickly dropped my backpack behind a huge potted fern near the stairs. Only once it was completely hidden and I had started walking forwards again, did I wonder why I'd dropped it. Jasper was hardly going to search my backpack.

'There you are,' I said as I came down the hall into the lounge room. Jasper was standing at the end of the dining room table, two solid-looking guys hovering behind him. 'What-'

'Sit.' Jasper pointed at the chair closest to me, directly opposite him. I sat, wondering what the heck was going on.

'Jasper, what's-'

'Before I start,' Jasper cut in, his eyes and voice sharp,' what do you prefer to be called?'

I was confused. 'Huh?'

'What do you prefer to be called?' Jasper repeated. 'Annie...' He looked directly at me and I wished that the ground would open up and swallow me. 'Or Amber.'


	9. Over My Head

**Chapter Nine: Over My Head**

'W-what?' I stammered, probably not the best reaction judging by Jasper's face.

'Amber or Annie,' he repeated. 'What should I call you?'

Instead of answering, I dropped my gaze from Jasper's face to the tabletop. For almost half a minute, there was complete silence before Jasper lost it. I jumped about a foot in the air as he slammed his fist down onto the table.

'You lied to me,' he shouted. 'I trusted you and you lied to me.'

'No, Jasper, please listen. I can explain -'

He cut me off with a sharp, 'I don't want your lame excuses. After everything...'

'It was my job,' I cried. Why was this hurting so much? Why did I feel like bursting into tears?

Jasper's eyes narrowed. 'Your job?'

While he stared at me, obviously expecting clarification, I realised why he was so upset. He thought I'd sold him out to MI5, not that I was an officer. By saying _It was my job_, had I made the situation better? Or worse?

'I'm a junior officer at MI5,' I said finally, aware that I was breaking the official secrets act thing I'd signed two years ago. 'I was posted undercover to try and get information about your involvement in drug dealing, human trafficking and terrorism.' Looking at Jasper's face, I could tell he didn't believe me. 'I'm telling the truth, Jasper.'

He snorted. 'The truth? You wouldn't know the truth if it hit you in the face.'

'You think I enjoyed lying to you?' I snapped. 'You think I laughed when I heard I was being pulled from this mission and you were going to be arrested? Jasper, you have no idea what I've been through the past few weeks.'

'Been through?' he echoed, his tone bordering on disbelieving. 'Been through? I've seen two of my best friends die, had to abandon my niece and lost my sister.' He shook his head. 'And Georgia thought you cared about her.'

'I did,' I insisted.

Coming around the table, Jasper stopped next to me and leaned down, whispering, 'I'm actually glad that she isn't alive to see this, to hear about what you've done.'

Lost for words- something that rarely happens with me usually- I stared back at Jasper, pleading with my eyes. His expression changed for a split second from angry to sad, before hardening again as he straightened up.

'We're going for a drive,' he said. The two heavies marched forward and gripped my arms. I didn't even struggle, just limply allowed them to manhandle me out of the lounge room, into the laundry and out the back door. Before I could even decide whether to scream for help or not, I was in the trunk of Jasper's Astra, the door down. I could hear doors opening, the car starting and muffled chatter from the front of the car.

Curled up in that tiny trunk, I finally started to feel panicky. No wonder Hex was claustrophobic; even though I couldn't see anything, every time I moved I could feel the perimeters of the trunk and each time those perimeters felt closer to me. Realising I was starting to lose it, I took a few deepish breaths and closed my eyes. Ahhhh. Relief at once. Open them and I started to panic. Closed... Squeezing my eyes tight so I wouldn't even be tempted to open them the slightest bit, I huddled in a tighter ball, feeling the car start to vibrate underneath me. We were off, but as to our destination... I was literally in the dark.

* * *

Li fidgeted, her hands tapping out a staccato rhythm on the desk. 'Why isn't she back yet?' She looked up at Paulo, expecting an answer.

'I don't know. Maybe it took a bit longer.'

'Come on. Rejection takes seconds, not an hour.' Li sighed and stood up, walking around Harry's desk and across the room to stare out the window. 'What if something went wrong?'

'She'll be fine. Harry wouldn't have let her go back if he thought she was in any danger,' Paulo reassured her. Seeing Li was still doubtful, he slipped his mobile out of his pocket and walked across to her. 'Here. Give her a call.'

For a few seconds, Li stared blankly at the phone before gingerly taking it and keying in Amber's mobile number. As the ringing kept on, Li's face became more and more anxious. After a solid minute of continuous ringing, Li cancelled the call.

'She's not picking up,' Li said.

'So-'

Li cut in, her voice high. 'She's in trouble. Amber _always_ answers her phone.'

'Maybe she _can't_ answer it at the moment,' Paulo said.

'Then why didn't she have her voice mail on?'

For a brief moment, the two friends stood still, staring at each other as they mentally ran through all the possible scenarios. It didn't look good.

'We need Harry.' Li broke out of her trance and strode towards her boss' desk. 'We need Alex and Hex. Where are they?'

Still holding onto Paulo's phone, Li keyed Harry's number in and waited for him to pick up. Once again, only ringing. The same happened for Alex and Hex's mobiles.

'Why doesn't anyone answer their bloody phones?' Li cried.

Paulo tried to calm Li down. 'Try Amber's again. Be patient. I'm sure it's nothing.'

* * *

The car was stopping. Yippee! We'd reached our destination. My enthusiasm was forced and internal only. My face stayed neutral as the trunk was opened and sunlight streamed in. What was the time? Couldn't have been very early, but then I doubted it was past noon.

Sitting up in the trunk, I resisted the urge to straighten out my arms and legs; the heavies eyeballed me: move one inch, girlie, _one_ inch, and we'll take you down. Jasper appeared from around the side of the car, holding something small and flat out to me. My phone.

'H-how did you get that?' I stammered, an image of my backpack tucked safely behind the fern flitting into my mind.

Jasper smiled and for a split second it was like everything was normal again. Then one of the heavies cleared their throat and I was jolted back to my present situation. Damn.

'I happen to be quite a good pickpocket,' he admitted. He passed me the phone, adding at my puzzled expression, 'Someone keeps trying to ring you. It's quite annoying.'

I looked at the display screen, looked at the number flashing. Wow. Five missed calls. The latest two were from Paulo's phone, the first three from Hex's.

'Better give one of them a ring and explain that you're a bit busy at the moment,' Jasper said. His tone was light, joking almost, but I knew better than to argue.

I hesitated. Who should I call? My automatic reaction would have been to call Hex, but I found myself hitting Paulo's number. The reason Jasper wanted me to call was to ease any anxiety over my sudden disappearance again. That much was more than clear. Hex knew me too well and would be able to pick up on the tension in my voice, even if I tried to hide it. Not a good idea to have anyone trying to come and find me until I had a plan. Paulo it was.

'Hey, Paulo,' I said quickly as soon as the phone was answered. Maybe a little too quickly if the frowns from the heavies were anything to go by.

'Are you ok?' Hmm. Not Paulo at all.

'Yeah, Li. I'm fine. I've just had a really stressful couple of weeks and thought I'd take a little break.'

'A little break?' Li echoed. She didn't believe me. The amount of times I'd heard _that_ tone.

'Yeah. Look,' I reassured her, 'I promise you I'm totally fine. Harry gave me the all clear for a few days R&R. That alright with you?'

'Amber-'

'I'll be back in three, four days maximum.'

'Ok. Just as long as you're alright.' She paused for a moment before adding softly, 'We all love you, Amber. Please remember that.'

The dial tone trilled in my ear and I hung up, feeling sick. Handing the phone to Jasper, I swallowed the lump in my throat. If I had felt terrible at deceiving Jasper, I felt even worse at lying to my best friends. Li thought I was lying to her. I'd have put money on her thinking I was on my way to the airport with Jasper, ready to fly away and start afresh somewhere out of the way. There was nothing more in the world I wanted to do more than ring Li back and tell her everything. No chance of that.

Jasper put his hand out and cleared his throat. Acting on autopilot, I pressed the phone into his palm.

'Can I get out?' I asked, raising my eyebrows.

Jasper opened his mouth, closed it again, frowned thoughtfully, then shrugged. 'Whatever. Just don't go anywhere.'

I struggled out of the trunk, stretching my arms and legs with bliss. For the first time I actually took a proper look at my surroundings. Derelict industrial sheds were packed tightly together. My first thought was that they were all abandoned, but then five guys swaggered out of the nearest shed, one of them carrying a toolbox, one rolling a tyre, two supporting a long plank of wood on their shoulders. Friend or foe?

'Yo, Price, my man!' The only guy not occupied with anything spotted Jasper and raised a hand. Dreadlocks bouncing, he jogged across to us, a huge smile plastered on his face. I instantly disliked him.

'Robbie,' Jasper said. He shot me and the heavies a quick glance before grabbing Robbie's arm and steering him away, muttering in undertones.

'So...' I shifted my weight from one foot to the other. 'Where am I going?'

Instead of answering, the heavies shared a look, gripped my arms again and marched me towards the nearest industrial block. The joys of being a captive.

Five minutes later I was in a small office, tied firmly to a chair and very much alone. I tried wriggling out of my bonds but only succeeded in getting rope burn. Wincing, I sat still and closed my eyes. The lovely calm feeling descended over me again.

_Bringgggggggggg. Bringgggggggggg._

'Holy cow!' I gasped, my eyes flying wide open. I craned my head around, searching for the source of the ringing. Oh. A cell phone sitting frustrating close on the edge of the desk. Dream on, Amber. There is no way in fresh hell that you are going to be able to pick the phone up and call for help with your hands tied behind your back and your feet tied to the chair legs. The ringing continued for a while before stopping. The screen flashed: one missed call.

Sighing, I closed my eyes again and tilted my head back. Time to think.

* * *

It was late afternoon before Hex made an appearance.

'Where have you been?' snapped Li as he hurried through the door. She scowled at him from behind Harry's desk, looking tiny and pale.

'Doing stuff,' Hex replied vaguely, his mind clearly on other things. 'What's been happening around here?'

'Alex and Harry have apparently disappeared off the face of the planet, while Amber and Jasper are eloping in an undisclosed location.' Li raised an eyebrow. 'Exciting stuff.'

Hex's face was unreadable as he answered: 'Really? Interesting.'

Rolling his eyes, Paulo intervened before Li got too carried away. 'Not exactly. We haven't been able to reach Alex or Harry, but then again we couldn't reach you either and here you are. Amber rang hours ago and announced she was taking a few days off for R&R.'

At this, Hex frowned. 'R&R?' he echoed. 'Strange.'

'Not really,' Li said. 'She sounded kinda stressed on the phone, but that's understandable, I s'pose.'

Still unconvinced, Hex chewed his lower lip and started pacing. 'Come on, Li. You don't really believe that, do you? Amber taking a break voluntarily?' He shook his head, not seeing Li open her mouth to respond, not noticing Paulo's warning glance thrown in her direction. 'Something isn't right about this. Why wouldn't she answer any of my calls, or yours, and then suddenly ring back explaining she's jetting off for a relaxing vacation?'

'Well-' Li started, shifting nervously in Harry's chair.

Hex suddenly spun around, his expression a combination of fury and concern. 'Bloody hell,' he hissed.

'What?' Li and Paulo said in unison, not liking the look on their friend's face.

Instead of answering, Hex pulled his mobile out of his pocket, checked the screen before tucking it back away and rushed out of the room. The office door banged shut behind him, leaving an incredibly confused Li and Paulo behind.

* * *

I woke up with a jolt. The room was completely dark. What the heck? I was disorientated, confused and annoyed. Last thing I remembered, sunlight had been streaming in through the window and the heavies were standing in front of me holding- Ah. That explained it. I'd been drugged. Nice, very nice. Thanks to them, I'd lost half the day and many hours of possible plan making time.

The door creaked open and Jasper peered around.

'Awake?' he asked.

I faked a yawn. 'Yes, thank you. I feel very refreshed.' I dropped the happy tone. 'What do you want?'

'We have to go somewhere,' Jasper muttered. The heavies appeared behind him, knives in hand, made their way over to me and slashed through the ropes holding me to the chair with a smooth flick of the wrist. I stood up, rubbing my wrists, and glared suspiciously at the three of them.

'Where are we going?'

* * *

The stretch of the Thames about five minutes drive from the industrial buildings was dark and mysterious looking. I gathered that I hadn't just been brought down here for the view.

Jasper looked at me for a long moment. I stared back, trying to keep my expression neutral. Eventually he sighed, leaned forward and kissed my cheek, his lips as cold as ice. I flinched and took a step back, then regretted it as his eyes narrowed.

'I'm so sorry things had to end this way, Annie.' He'd obviously decided, without my input, on what to call me.

'So am I,' I said softly, meaning every single word. Jasper looked at me again, gave a small, farewell smile and was gone, slipping into the shadows.

The two ex-wrestler-type men that had been with Jasper this whole time grabbed my arms and marched me down towards the Thames. From the way the water was moving, I knew this section was fairly shallow in comparison to the rest of the Thames. _Forget the current_, I scolded myself. _You're about to die_.

Drowning had obviously been decided as the way to go and I couldn't help but feel really ticked off that I hadn't been part of the voting party. Expecting to be held underwater by the ex-wrestlers- something that would give me a possible, albeit very slim one, chance to escape- I was more than a little shocked when two lengths of rope were tied around my ankles.

'What're they for?' I asked, feeling more than a little anxious and as if I'd just swallowed a bag of quick set cement. The men didn't answer, simply picked me up and put me in a little boat.

When we were a couple of metres from the shore, ex-wrestler one attached two concrete blocks to the ropes and then knotted the ropes around my ankles. I understood where this was heading.

Before I had time to cry out, ex-wrestler two pushed me backwards and I hit the freezing water with a splash. For a split second I bobbed on the surface, drawing air into my lungs frantically, before there were two more splashes- one on each side of me- and I was dragged down.

Never in my life had I been so glad for my lungs. I figured I had just over a minute, a minute and a half perhaps, though that time could be considerably lessened if I panicked or I sunk too far. Tilting my head up, I couldn't make out the shape of a boat above me, so I guessed the ex-wrestlers had skedaddled.

The water was absolutely freezing. I felt my muscles constricting and my hands seizing up. Desperately, I reached downward and tried to undo the knots around my ankles. It was no use. The knots were too tight and I was too weak, the cold sapping my strength. Another factor I hadn't counted on for my breath holding time was the water's temperature. Everything ached, but mostly my chest.

As my vision swam and I held onto the last wisps of air in my tortured lungs, I heard a splash. Black spots danced in front of my eyes as something, some_one_, dove down next to me. I felt a hand gripping my ankle and then suddenly that leg was free. My other leg was released in a similar fashion and I shot to the surface like a cork, coughing, spluttering and shaking.

I bobbed on the surface, slipping under the water and then clawing my way back up. Water flowed into my mouth and I kicked back to the surface again. coughing came from beside me and the same person who has cut me free grabbed my arms and started towing me to shore.

'Hang on, Amber. Don't worry about swimming, just focus on keeping your head up.'

I must have blacked out then because next thing I knew I was on all fours, on dry land, vomiting up river water.

'Ew,' I groaned, sitting back so I was resting on my legs folded beneath me.

Hex knelt down in front of me, making sure to avoid the vomit, and grabbed my shoulders. The worry was more than evident in his voice as he said, 'Are you ok?'

'F-fine,' I chattered, shivering uncontrollably.

Hex grinned, even though he was shivering himself. 'You saved _me_ from drowning. Thought it was time to repay back that debt.'

I tried to smile, but my teeth clacked together and I could barely feel my lips.

'You're freezing,' Hex muttered, pulling me against him and wrapping his arms around me. I circled my arms around his waist and hugged him close.

'You're not that warm yourself,' I said, my voice slightly muffled.

'We need to get to my car,' Hex announced. 'I have blankets and, believe it or not, the heater actually works.'

'W-where's you car?'

Hex helped me to my feet and we staggered towards a small copse of trees. Tucked in behind a bush was Hex's little crapmobile. While the cramped seating conditions and whining engine usually made me sigh, I collapsed inside the small car with genuine relief. Never had I felt such affection towards a machine. Or, more accurately, one of its features.

'Full blast,' I ordered as Hex got into the driver's seat. He handed me two blankets that I quickly wrapped around myself and then cranked the heating up as high as it would go. The car clanked and gave a shudder, but before long a toasty warmth had started to seep out of the vents and into my frozen body.

'Ahhhhhhh,' I sighed, wriggling further under the blankets.

'Better?' Hex asked, looking sideways at me.

'Much.' My fingertips were still chilly so I dragged them out and went to hold the in front of the heating vent. As I looked up, a shape flickered across my line of vision. I paused, frowning.

Hex was oblivious to my confusion. Huddled under his own blanket, he peered out at me and said, 'Can I ask you something?'

I was still focussing on defrosting my fingers and the weird shadow. 'You just did.'

'What are you... Oh. Right. Very funny. But I've been trying to find the right-' Hex stopped abruptly, seeming to realise my lack of concentration. 'What is it?'

'I don't know,' I said slowly. I turned to peer out my window. 'I thought I saw- SHIT!' One of the ex-wrestlers was hovering outside my window, staring at me in bewilderment. Hex looked up as I cussed, saw the man and turned the key in the ignition, eyes huge.

'Drive!' I shrieked, whacking down the lock on my door.

'Move it you pile of trash!' Hex bawled as the car squealed and shot forwards.


	10. You Are Not Alone

**A/N The chapters will most likely be shorter (between 1,000 and 2,000 words) from now on, but that means that updates should be quicker. Yeah! I'm on holidays until the 7****th**** of October, so I will try and write and load the last two chapters of **_**The Assassin's Touch**_** and another couple for this fic. **

**Chapter Ten: You Are Not Alone**

I was frozen in terror, my fists bunched together so tight I felt my nails digging into my palms. My jaw clenched, grinding my teeth painfully together and making my mouth ache. It wasn't the face of my would-be murderer that had me so on edge; we'd left him far behind.

It was Hex's driving.

'Please...slow...down.' I managed to force the words out without ungritting my teeth.

'Huh?' Hex looked sideways at me. He was enjoying himself. Actually enjoying himself.

'Slower,' I said, sounding a touch strangled.

Hex's expression turned sheepish for a second as he lifted his foot off the accelerator slightly. 'We need to get as far away as possible. Right into the city would be best. Bear with me.'

My anxiety escalated a couple of notches as Hex took one hand off the steering wheel and started fiddling with the radio. Classical music. Opera. Country. The tunes flicked my.

'What are you doing?' I shrieked. 'Can you stop changing stations and just focus on-' I was cut off by a burst of sound coming from the speakers.

_Whoa Black Betty_

_Bama Lamb_

_Yeah Black Betty_

_Bama Lamb_

'What?! Are you mad?'

Shrugging, Hex said nonchalantly, 'How am I meant to drive while listening to opera? I mean, we're fleeing for our lives.'

I clenched my hands even tighter.

* * *

I survived the ride. Just. Parked outside Headquarters, I had to wait a whole five minutes before I could force my cramped muscles to respond. Hex spent those five minutes pacing up and down the sidewalk, occasionally with his mobile pressed to his ear and always with his mouth set in an anxious frown. Despite his far from adequate driving skills, I was so happy to see him, so happy to be with him again.

'What're you smiling at?' Hex's question came out of nowhere. I tried to flick my expression back to annoyed, but my grin got wider.

'I dunno. Just happy I guess.'

Hex smiled back, but my grin died a little as I remembered saying similar words to Jasper at the restaurant weeks ago. _Stop it_. I mentally rapped my knuckles with a ruler. _He ordered your murder. _A stupid part of my brain piped up, _You _did_ betray his trust_, but I blocked it out with a huge, imagined brick wall.

'I can't get through to anyone,' Hex said, pulling me by the hand out of the car. 'We better go see what's going on.'

By the time we reached Harry's office, I was about half dry, although my hair was still saturated. Betty, the cleaner, wouldn't have been happy with me if she knew I had been drip-drying all over her floor.

'Hi guys. What ya been-' I never got to finish as I immediately found myself being crushed in another Paulo-Li bear hug. Hex trailed in after me and got a whack on the shoulder from Li.

'Next time you get the sudden urge to rush off without telling anyone where you're going, don't.' Li scowled, then sniffed and gave Hex a tight hug.

'Where's Alex?' Paulo asked, looking towards the door like Alex was about to come waltzing in.

'Ummm...' I was confused. How on earth were we meant to know where Alex was? I hadn't even seen him since he delivered that letter to me from Harry when I was at work.

'I thought he'd be here with you guys.' Hex's frown was back. 'I can't reach him on his mobile.' The frown depended. 'Or Harry for that matter.'

Li looked worried, but Paulo just shrugged.

'They're probably off doing something. I heard a rumour that Harry's got a solo mission planned for Alex, so maybe they're going through it, or whatever.'

I don't think anyone, even Paulo, really believed that, but what could we do?

'Well,' I said, 'we can either sit around here doing nothing or we can take a little trip and pick up a very important bag.'

Li's eyes lit up. I felt sorry for her: starved of excitement and adrenaline-packed activities, she must have been going stir crazy.

'Awesome. Let's go.' She grabbed Hex's car keys from his hand and took off out the door. We followed, Paulo looking amused, Hex grumbling and me praying like crazy that Jasper had decided to go on a spontaneous vacation to some out of the way place, far from us. Tasmania preferably.

* * *

Paulo gave a low whistle. 'Fa-ancy.'

Looking at Jasper's house through new eyes, I started to notice the "fa-ancy" parts for the first time: a manicured lawn, each blade of grass the exact same length; a garden well under control, highly organised and colour coordinated; modern everything; a brand new lick of pant on the render... The whole place shrieked "wealth" and if you didn't know Jasper you'd assume a very well-off businessman or rich lawyer lived there. Well, I knew Jasper and I also knew that wasn't where the money came from.

'So your bag is...' Hex glanced at me in the semidarkness of the car. Under my protests, Hex had driven us here in his dinky car a fact that neither Li or I were very pleased about. The quality of Hex's car and his driving was demonstrated by that one fact: adrenaline-junky Li, nothing-can-frighten-me Li, free climbing-extraordinaire Li, was nervous at even the prospect of riding in Hex's car when he was at the wheel.

'Behind a potted plant near the stairs.' I chewed my lip and squinted, trying to see if anyone was at home. The curtains weren't drawn and no lights appeared to be on, but still...

'You know,' Li aid, 'that whenever someone mentions potted plants I instantly think of our first mission. Alva's office, with all those ferns. Honestly, what is people's fascination, people's _obsession_, with a huge plant made up solely of delicate fronds that look like they're just waiting to creep out and eat you?'

'I really don't know, Li,' I answered, only half concentrating. 'Does it look like anyone's home?'

Li wasn't really listening either, still babbling away on her own train of thought, although what I'd just said had swayed that train slightly. 'What're we going to do if someone _does_ come along? Duck?'

I'd been looking at Hex, about to ask his opinion on the situation, when Li made that comment. Immediately a stupid blush crept onto my cheeks and I thanked my lucky stars that it was, a, night time, and b, my skin was dark enough to cover the pinkness.

'What other option would there be, Li?' Paulo asked. Why, of all the topics, did this one have to continue? 'Invisibility shield? Teleportation device? Beam-'

'Ok, ok,' Hex interrupted, sounding a bit flustered. 'It doesn't matter because no one _will_ come, alright? We're going in, getting the bag, coming out and driving straight back home as fast as possible. Understand?'

'Why do we all need to go?' Paulo piped up. 'I mean, Amber obviously does 'cause she knows where the bag is exactly and she knows how the house is laid out, but why doesn't just one of us go with her? The other two can act as lookouts.'

'I'm driving,' Hex said. 'So I can't go.'

After a few minutes debate, it was decided that Paulo would come with me. Li gallantly forfeited her spot on the retrieval team, saying that she might have found it difficult to keep quiet and stealthy, considering she'd been cooped up all day.

Paulo and I crept up to the front door. I lifted the third paving stone from the right up and found the spare key, quickly unlocked the door and put it back where I found it. Together, we shoved the door open and tiptoed inside.

* * *

Alex flicked through the pile of papers on the kitchen bench in Amber's mission apartment. Credit card application. Letters from her uncle and friends back in the States. Flyer for a school fete. Pay slip and cheque from work... Nothing relevant. In the lunge room, Harry was also conducting a thorough search. Not that he didn't trust Amber, but it didn't hurt to be safe.

'Nothing,' Harry called, standing up straight and stretching his back.

'Ditto.' Alex's head appeared from around the corner of the half wall separating the kitchen from lounge room. 'You didn't really think Amber would-'

'No, no, no,' Harry said quickly, shaking his head. 'But I thought it better to be safe than sorry.'

Alex nodded and joined his boss in the lounge room. They sat on the couch, both staring at the coffee table, deep in thought. Neither of them heard the front door open and then swing shut. Nor did they hear the soft footfalls of the intruder before it was much too late.

Jasper was just as surprised to see the two men sitting on the sofa as they were to see him standing in the door way. Quickly, Jasper regained his composure and drew his gun, training it on Alex and Harry.

'Come over here quietly and no one gets hurt,' Jasper said. His voice shook slightly, although his hand remained steady. Alex and Harry immediately obeyed, not wanting to aggregate him. With bloodshot eyes and deathly pale skin, Jasper looked anything but stable.

In his backpack by the front door, Alex's mobile vibrated softly. Yet another missed call.


	11. Biting Bullets

**Chapter Eleven: Biting Bullets**

Our shoes clacked quietly on the wooden floor. Paulo was about 20 centimetres behind me, breathing literally down my neck. There, at the end of the hall, the staircase and tucked next to it the fabulous fern. I didn't care what Li said; that fern had been extremely helpful and I vowed then and there to buy one and put it in my flat as a tribute.

'Stay here,' I whispered to Paulo. He obediently stopped and I continued alone, making my way quickly towards my hidden bag. Once it was safely in my arms, I waved a hand at Paulo and he hightailed it out of there.

So close. So close to being the silent yet deadly duo. But no, I had to trip on the doormat on the way out. Paulo was already halfway down the front path, waiting for me to get my act together and _move_, when I caught my toe on the stupid mat and smashed into the wall. There was an answering thud from the lounge room, followed by some swearing and then shouts of alarm. Turned out that the house wasn't as empty as we thought.

'Go!' I yelled, abandoning any efforts of subtlety. Paulo hesitated then took off down the path. As I straightened up and picked up my bag again, I could hear the car engine roar into life and the slightly more worrying sound of footsteps behind me, getting steadily louder.

'I think it's time I left,' I muttered to no one in particular as I sprinted for the car. Hex had parked so the front passenger seat was closest to me. Paulo was leaning forwards, holding the door open for me. I dove into my seat, the door clicking shut behind me, just as the car shot forwards. Now I had no complaints about Hex's driving as we actually _were_ being followed.

'Screw the speed limit!' Li shouted. 'Go on, Hex! Let's see how fast this baby can _gooooooo_!'

Paulo's expression was absolutely priceless. He was pressed against his door, looking at Li out of the corner of his eye as if wondering what sort of strange creature he happened to be sharing the back seat with.

It was late at night so thankfully the backstreets were deserted. I don't think Hex really knew where he was going. If he did, then I had another question: why the hell were we going back to the friggin' industrial estate?

The headlights of the car behind us were dangerously close. I sunk lower in my seat, expecting to be shot to smithereens at any second. It was almost a surprise- a welcome one at that- when no shots came and the car just continued along behind, corner after corner. There was no doubt that out pursuers' car would have been _much _faster then the crapmobile, so we didn't they overtake us, perform a nifty handbrake turn and force us to stop? Why were they just following along behind. It was almost like they were- Great.

I turned to Hex. 'I think this is a trap. They're herding us like sheep.'

He nodded grimly. 'Yeah. And we've got no choice but the play along.'

* * *

Alex tensed up as the car pulled into the parking space. Jasper was in the seat behind him, no doubt with gun at the ready, and Harry was driving. His hands shook as Jasper ordered them out of the car.

'In front,' Jasper hissed to Alex, tugging Harry roughly to his side. Alex obeyed, shuffling along, still shaking a bit.

'Where are we going?' Alex risked a quick glance behind at Jasper. He was scanning the area, eyes narrowed, looking for something...

'The underground parking lot. Hurry, but don't even _think _of doing anything clever or he gets it. Understand?' Harry flinched as Jasper dug his elbow into his side and Alex quickly nodded.

'I understand.'

* * *

With a squeal of protest from the tyres and the lovely stench of burning rubber, we pulled up in the industrial lot main car park.

'Spilt up?' I suggested as we all tumbled out and the headlights from our pursuers' car lit up the scene. I meant it as a suggestion, something I wanted the others' opinions on, but they didn't take it that way.

'Good plan.' Paulo nodded and bolted for one of the southern buildings. For a brief moment, Li stared after him before spinning around and taking off in the opposite direction. Hex went left and I was forced with no other option but to move to the right. Now, I would classify myself as a pretty independent person. Despite having people constantly looking after me for my entire childhood, I didn't necessarily enjoy it. I prefer going my own way and if that means working alone then fine. But at that moment, as I ran as fast as I could for the relative safety of one of the buildings, I wished with all my heart that I had at least one of my friends with me. I was sick of having to go it alone, sick of being the one to make all the decisions, decisions that could not only affect me but countless other people as well. I wanted to be back with my friends, as Alpha Force again, with Li giving us little pep talks and injecting enthusiasm into everything we did; with Paulo telling us to relax and take it easy and that everything will work out; with Hex arguing with me over anything and then ignoring all of us while he did something tricky on his palmtop; with Alex being a heck of a good leader and reassuring us that what we were doing was the best thing possible. Instead, I was alone in a half finished workshop, not knowing the exact whereabouts of three of my friends and frantic over the sudden and as yet unexplained disappearance of the fourth. Why couldn't ever be simple?

* * *

'Bad plan,' Hex muttered to himself. 'Very bad plan.'

Creeping through the upper level of one of the buildings, Hex's nerves were frazzled. He'd somehow ended up in the most dilapidated building n the complex and the creaking did nothing to help the situation.

The creak of floorboards below made him freeze. Through one of the numerous gaping holes in the floor, Hex caught a glimpse of blue. Was one of their pursuers wearing blue? The blue moved and Hex wasn't sure if he could start breathing again: just because you can't see something, doesn't mean it's not still there. Or worse, closer.

For the next five minutes, Hex crept from one end of the building to the other, avoiding the man in blue and his accomplice. From the snippets of conversation he heard whilst alternatively shadowing and fleeing from them, Hex realised they were getting frustrated. Was that in their favour or not? If they were getting annoyed, they would be more likely to give up or make stupid mistakes. Then again, they were also more likely to be trigger happy and unforgiving.

Just as that thought passed through Hex's head, gunshots echoed from across the complex. Hex instinctively dove to the ground, even though he wasn't being shot at. As the shots came again, Hex realised with a sense of dread where the shots were coming from: the building almost directly opposite from the one he was in. The building that Amber had headed towards.

* * *

Li had been playing a similar game to the one Hex was playing, although her variation involved throwing things at the man trying to find her and imitating a ghost, wailing and clanking on bits of metal. The guy didn't look freaked out, just really pissed off.

'Alright you little shit. Come on out now or I'll get really mad.' The guy shouted the words whilst spinning slowly around, fists clenched. Sitting on a beam high up on the other side of the building, Li heard the threat and giggled. She slid along the beam and climbed up through a hole in the floor. Once she was standing on the second level, she tiptoed her way along the building's length, occasionally wailing. There was no answer and she stopped, puzzled. Although it was the middle of the night, a full moon had kept the building relatively well lit and Li suddenly found herself with limited visibility.

'What the hell?' she started to say, but broke off with a fit of coughing. Li's eyes widened as she realised what had happened. Still coughing and waving a hand in front of her face, Li dropped to the ground. Where had the fire been started? Unlike the newer industrial buildings, the old ones in the complex had been made with a lot of wood. A fire in any part of the building would have the whole lot ablaze in minutes. Panic building inside of her, Li wriggled along the floorboards, looking for the way down. Her head bumped against a wall and she backed up, heading in another direction. When she hit another wall a minute later, Li started to hyperventilate. Choking on the smoke and with wide eyes, Li moved in yet another direction, more than aware of the consequences if she didn't find a way out.

**Sorry for slow update but I've had a surprisingly busy holiday. I have today (Saturday) and tomorrow (Sunday) left free. I'm back at school on Tuesday, at school for nine weeks and then free! Yeah! I really want to get the last two chapters of The Assassin's Touch doen and loaded, so keep a look out because one (hopefully) will be up today or tomorrow. **


	12. De Do Do Do De Da Da Da

**Chapter Twelve: De Do Do Do De Da Da Da**

I was up a very well known creek without an equally well known paddle. Crouched down behind a rusty piece of some sort of machinery, I focused on keeping my breathing steady and quiet. Despite my best efforts, it still sounded like it was playing through a loud speaker.

A woman with thick red hair in a tight plait reaching halfway down her back skulked across the other side of the room. She was calmly and methodically tracking back and forth, slowly coming towards me, her grey-blue eyes searching for any hint of movement. Give her five minutes, max, and she'd reach my hiding place.

I was looking around, judging the pros and cons of making a dash for the stairs, when the woman shrieked and started firing her gun. The hairs on the back of my neck stood up and my ears started ringing. I was no stranger to the sound of a gun being fired, but the near empty, relatively small building made the sound seem a hundred times worse.

Peering out from behind the machine, I saw a flash of grey dart across the middle of the floor. A grin crept onto my face. A mouse. Tough, lady honcho was terrified of a little mouse. It was all I could do not to fall on the ground in hysterical giggles. The stress of the situation was really starting to get to me.

There was the clatter of feet on metal and some small part of my brain registered that there must be a sheet of the stuff outside the side entrance.

'What? What happened?'

'Gloria! Why were you shooting?'

'You ok?'

'Did you find one of the little meddlers?'

The babble of voices washed over me and my vision swam for a second and I swayed, gripping the machine for support. My head foggy, I tried to sift through my mind. There was something I had to do…

'Stupid girl,' snapped a voice.

'Who, me?' I mumbled groggily.

Gloria's plaintive, whining voice protesting barely registered. The sounds of people leaving, the clatter of metal once again, didn't hit home either. Background noise, nothing of importance.

With a sigh, my grip on the machine loosened and I swayed again, ending up lying on the floor without much clue as to how I got there. For a few minutes, I drifted in and out of consciousness before I slipped into complete darkness. The clatter of shoes on metal was the last sound I heard before silence.

* * *

Hex was faced with a dilemma. One the one hand, he could stay where he was, in relative safety in the far corner of the building. On the other hand, he could make a run for it, although even though the guy had suddenly and mysteriously vanished, Hex still wasn't completely certain he'd gone for good. On another hand, he could try and get into the building next to him, because there was a good chance that one of his friends could be caught in the fire. On yet another hand, the gunshots that he'd heard across the compound were also worrying. Groaning, Hex sidled out of the cupboard, making a beeline for the back exit. He'd get out first, then worry about where his priorities lay.

Outside, it was clear to see that their pursuers had left. Why? Hex frowned, highly suspicious. A trap? For some reason he doubted that.

The crackle of fire behind him made Hex forget all about the people who'd tailed them. One of the buildings was ablaze, with flames licking all up the walls.

'Hex!' Paulo was running towards him, horror written all over his face. As he reached Hex, Paulo looked at the building.

'Please tell me that neither Li nor Amber are in there,' he near begged, knowing that if they were there was nothing they could do.

'I- I don't know,' Hex said, trying to remember. Who had gone in that direction? Paulo had gone down towards the southern end of the complex, right? Then Li had-

'Li,' Paulo gasped, noticing Hex's expression. His gaze darted to the building. 'No. No way.' He took a step forward but Hex grabbed his arm.

'What do you hope to achieve?' Hex bit his lip. 'Look at-'

'Hey guys!' Li's cheerful voice floated towards them as she skipped out from behind a skip. 'Boy am I glad to see you two!' She got closer and narrowed her eyes, noticing Amber's absence. 'Where's Am- Ah!' Paulo grabbed Li and gave her a huge hug, nearly suffocating her in the process.

'You're ok?' he asked, pulling back and staring at her critically.

Li, her expression amused, nodded. 'Right as rain.' She turned to Hex. 'Where's Amber?'

'That's what I'm going to find out.' Hex spun on his heel and hurried across the car park, hoping that he was wrong and Amber was ok.

A sheet of corrugated iron lay down outside the door clacked as Hex ran inside the building, Li and Paulo at his heels.

'Amber?' he called. 'Amber?' His eyes widened as he saw an arm poking around the corner of a huge machine set near the back of the room.

Li saw the arm at the same time and raced towards it, Paulo following. The three friends reached Amber at the same time, sliding to a stop.

'What's wrong with her?' Li gabbled, her voice high. 'Has she been shot?'

Paulo came to a different conclusion, grabbing at the belt pouch strapped around Amber's waist. 'Does anyone know when she had her last injection?'

'No,' Hex said in a rush. 'But it won't matter will it? If you give her another dose, I mean.'

Not bothering to answer, Paulo pulled one of the needles from the pouch and jabbed it into Amber's thigh. Putting it away, he sat back on his haunches and watched anxiously as Amber continued to lay still.

* * *

_Woah. What the heck happened? _I felt like I was swimming up from the depths, each stroke moving me closer and closer until-

I retched, rolling onto my side and blinking rapidly. Gosh, I felt awful.

'Idiot,' someone hissed. I rolled back onto my back and looked at where the voice came from.

'Hey, Hex,' I said cheerfully. Two more anxious faces appeared. 'Li. Paulo. What's happening?'

Woops. Wrong thing to say. 'What?' Hex exploded. 'You stupid, _stupid_ idiot.'

'Hey,' I protested feebly. 'That's not very nice.'

'When did you last inject your insulin?' Hex's face was still thunderous.

'Ah…' I thought back. 'Late afternoon?' My voice sounded weak and unsure, so I repeated myself. 'Late afternoon.'

Hex ground his teeth together. 'Well-'

I cut him off, suddenly remembering why I felt so groggy and I'd passed out. Yeah, it might have been helped along by my lack of insulin, but colliding with that wall back at Jasper's hadn't been as harmless as I thought.

'I hit a wall when I tripped over the mat,' I admitted. 'I've probably got a mild concussion or something.' I started to sit up, felt woozy and lay back down again.

'Maybe you should rest for a bit,' Li suggested.

What was it? What had I forgotten?

'Yeah,' Paulo added. 'Just a few minutes and then-'

'What's the time?' I struggled into a sitting position, ignored my thumping head and grabbed for Paulo's wrist. The clock face made no sense so I gave Paulo his arm back. 'Tell me,' I demanded.

'Elevenish.' Paulo shot me a funny look. 'Why?'

'We need to get to the new mall.'

Li laughed. 'It doesn't open until tomorrow, Amber. I think that's "getting in early" taken a tad too literally.'

'No,' I snapped, frustrated they didn't immediately understand, that I had to waste precious seconds explaining myself. 'It's Jasper. He's going to blow up the mall.'

**Hmmmm. That chapter didn't really turn out as good as I hoped, but it's the best I could do. I do seem to be in a bit of a rut lately, but hopefully that is just due to me being lazy and not writing regularly and will be cleared up for the next chapter. Toodles!**


	13. Dancing In The Night

**Chapter Thirteen: Dancing In The Dark**

There was a moment of shocked silence, which Li eventually broke.

'He's _what_?' she yelped.

I sighed, put on my patient voice and answered: 'Jasper is going to blow up the mall.' Looking at they're faces, I got hastily and somewhat unsteadily to my feet and added, 'Can we go now?'

'Hang on,' Hex said in a rush. 'Can you elaborate?'

I was twitching with impatience and ready to throttle them, but I kept the calm voice. 'No. I can't. We're in a bit of a rush.'

Without waiting for an answer, I raced for the car, comforted by the sound of their feet coming after me. I reached the car first and threw myself in the driver's seat.

'Hey!' Hex protested as I turned the key in the ignition.

'Shut up and get in the damn car,' I snapped, patience wearing dangerously thin.

Hex's mouth clacked shut and he scurried around to the front passenger seat, sliding in and sitting very straight and still. I felt bad for snapping at him, but had no time to apologise.

'Everyone in?' I called. There were two _yep_'s from the back seat so I slammed my foot down on the accelerator and sped out of the parking lot.

I ignored the speed limits, Hex's worried sideways glances, Li's woops and Paulo's repeated questions. _Just concentrate on getting us all there alive, Amber_, I told myself. _Don't think about what you'll do next. Just focus on the now. _A small smile stretched across my face. Wow. I felt so Zen.

Hex saw my smile and started. 'Why're you smiling?'

I quickly dropped the corners of my lips down in a stressed frown. 'I'm not.'

'You were.'

'Weren't.

'Were.'

'You two!' Li sighed and thwacked the backs of our heads. 'Quit it. Hex, let Amber drive. Amber, stop annoying Hex.'

'Yes mom,' we answered in unison.

I went to smile again but stopped myself. Alex was still missing and Jasper was about to blow a building sky high. This wasn't the time to be thinking about the normality of the situation. The relief could wait until we were all together again.

* * *

'Is this the place?' Paulo was the first one out of the crapmobile as we pulled up in the dark backstreet behind the new mall.

I nodded, though I doubt if he would have seen given the fact that it _was_ so dark and I had my head in my backpack, searching for the map.

'What're you looking for?' Hex crouched down next to me, his hand on my back.

For some reason, my cheeks flamed red and I only just managed to force out, 'Map.' My fingers closed around the map, but I kept rummaging for a few more seconds to give my cheeks a chance to return to their normal colour. 'Found it,' I said cheerfully when I finally straightened up, pushing all unrelated thoughts from my mind. 'We need to go to the lower level of the underground car park. It's not finished, so watch yourselves.'

We sprinted for a largish door on the side of the building. It opened into a huge, empty space, various large wooden crates dotted here and there.

'Stairs,' Hex muttered. 'We need stairs.'

Li, her eyes squinty, bounced in place. 'I see some!' she enthused. 'Come on!'

Like bloodhounds on the scent of something interesting, we raced off in the direction Li had pointed.

'Oh.' Li's face fell when we screeched to a halt. 'Not stairs.'

The cavernous whole in the ground, with various sharp and potentially deadly looking bits of metal littered in the bottom, didn't look too promising.

'Spread out,' Hex decided. 'See anything that looks like it might lead down to the car parks, give a yell.'

We all murmured our agreement and then fanned out, each working our way outwards, towards the distant walls. The relative darkness and solitude brought back my confusion with painful clarity. What the heck was going on? I sighed. There were times when I wished with all my heart that Hex would be a bit less cryptic and a tad more open.

'Gah!' Hex's shout snapped me out of my thoughts. There was a crash, muffled cursing and a dull clanging before: 'Found them.'

'Yeah! Right on, Hex!' Li could be heard rushing across the room towards the sound of Hex's voice. I followed, Paulo almost crashing into me as he floundered about in the dark.

'Woops,' he said, pulling up just seconds away from running me over. 'Sorry, Amber.'

'Don't worry about it.' I brushed his apology away, concentrating on navigating the pitch black staircase.

I reached the bottom and stood to the side, giving Paulo a clear way down and giving my eyes a chance to adjust.

'Is this the right level?' Paulo asked as he joined us.

I shrugged. 'Maybe.' I looked around, widening my eyes and squinting to try and see better. It didn't really work and I just felt like an idiot. 'Have a look-'

A loud rhythmic clanging cut me off. It was impossible to ignore and coming from the direction of the far end of car park, if that was what this level was. For a minute or two, the four of us stood completely still, looking in the direction of the clanging.

'I have,' I said slowly, 'a really spooky feeling about this.' My gaze slid sideways, to Li's face. Her eyes were darting anxiously, her mouth a thin line. She looked scared and apprehensive, two emotions that I wouldn't normally associate with Li. That was enough to get my heart pounding like a demented drum and my mouth turning dry.

'Shall we?' Paulo gulped. 'I mean, we don't _have_ to, but I suppose we should. It's probably nothing, but just in case. What if just a few of-'

'No,' Hex said firmly. His expression gave nothing away, but his voice said no arguments. 'We're all going together. Right now.'

Slowly, but increasing our pace with every stride, we started for the noise. I dreaded what we were about to find. An image of Alex flashed into my mind and I started jogging. I felt my friends hesitate before they followed my lead.

'Alex?' The words were out of my mouth before I could stop them. 'Alex, are you ok?'

We rounded the corner and stopped dead. About twenty metres away, hidden behind a large piece of something metal, was Alex. He was gagged and his wrists and ankles were tied tightly together. A long metal pole lay by his feet and he'd obviously been clanging it against the big, unidentifiable metal thing to make the noise. He looked up as we screeched to a startled halt, his eyes big with fear. He started jerking his head, mumbling into the gag.

'What?' Hex leaned forward, as though that might make Alex's words and their meaning clearer. For some reason, although we were all desperate to get to Alex and free him, we stayed where we were.

That turned out to be the smartest thing we'd done all day.

'What are you doing here?' Jasper emerged from the shadows behind Alex, a gun held loosely in his hand. His tone wasn't annoyed or even curious. Casual, like he didn't really care.

'I was going to ask you the same question.' I cringed, feeling so clichéd, yet again.

'You first,' Jasper insisted, leaning easily against the mysterious metal thing.

_What the hell_, I thought. _Can't get any worse_. 'You're going to blow up the mall,' I said bluntly. 'I went through your filing cabinet and found the papers.'

Jasper's face contorted into something resembling anger for a split second before falling back into neutral mode. What was with guys and not being able to show emotions? Needing to maintain the tough veneer. Drove me crazy.

'You got anything to say?' I continued when it became clear he wasn't going to answer. 'Denials, accusations, threats...' I trailed off, my eyes narrowing. There was something odd that I hadn't noticed yet. Alex's gaze wasn't directed anywhere. Or so it seemed. He was staring intently at a spot off to our left, about halfway between Jasper and us, his eyes sad. Jasper caught my glance at Alex and followed his gaze, his expression still neutral. With a heart heavy with dread, I looked as well, hearing the soft gasps of my friends and feeling Hex's hand grab mine.

'No,' I whispered. 'Please, no.'

**A/N Oohhhhhhh. Cliffy! Aren't they awesomely frustrating? I'm still not utterly happy with my writing at the moment, but maybe it's just the last couple of difficult chapters. Hope you're all still liking this fic! **


	14. Sunglasses At Night

**Chapter Fourteen: Sunglasses At Night**

A sob rose in my throat and escaped through my lips. Tears blurring my vision, I swung angrily back in Jasper's direction.

'How could you?' I had tears streaming down my cheeks, my shoulders shaking, voice shrill.

Jasper looked steadily at me, his voice quiet as he said, 'It was an accident.'

For half a heartbeat, I believed him. Then I remembered what he'd just done and my anger was back.

'Yeah, right,' I snapped. 'You expect me to believe that pile of shit?'

'I'm telling you, it was an accident. The gun just... went off.'

Seeing Jasper's face, recalling what he'd told me weeks ago, I realised he was telling the truth. But that didn't change what he'd done. Accident or no accident, I didn't care.

I took a step towards Jasper, my voice shaking as I said, 'We've called the police, Jasper. They're on their way here as we speak.'

Half true. Behind me, Li was frantically texting, no doubt trying to somehow get a message to the police without actually speaking.

'You're lying.' Jasper's eyes were hard.

I went to move forward again, but Hex tightened his grip on my hand, forcing me to stop. Biting my lip, I half turned. His expression was a muddled mix of confusion, anxiety, anger and sadness.

'Trust me on this,' I murmured.

He frowned, then sighed and let go of my hand. I turned back around and took half a dozen quick steps forward. Mistake.

Jasper reacted with unexpected violence.

'Stay back!' he yelled, sliding quickly behind Alex and pushing the barrel of the gun hard against Alex's temple. My heart stopped beating then started again, twice as fast as before. There were three more gasps from behind me.

'No, Jasper,' I babbled. 'Please.'

'I'll do it. I know I can.'

Taking tiny, barely noticeable sliding steps, I wracked my brain. _Keep him talking, Amber. Whatever you do, keep him talking._

A sentence formed in my mind and was out before I could even stop and consider what effect it might have.

'I don't think you can.'

His eyes narrowed as I snapped my mouth shut. _Idiot!_

'What are you suggesting?' Jasper retorted, his eyes flashing. 'That I haven't got the guts to kill someone in cold blood?'

'No,' I said softly. 'But I _do_ know that you're not the sort of person who would do something like that.'

Jasper stayed silent so I risked a few more steps, praying silently that I could keep up the façade for long enough.

'Come on, Jasper,' I added. 'Put the gun down and untie Alex.'

Now, I personally thought that I was doing an amazing job, but there's no pleasing some people. The next sound I heard wasn't the one I'd expected and hoped for.

The gun gave a sharp _click_ and my breath caught in my throat. All the calm went out the window. Jasper obviously wasn't buying it any way and I was _way_ too mad to continue with it.

'You utter _bastard_.' With out realising it, I was now just eight metres or so from Jasper and Alex. I should've been scared, but for some stupid reason the flight part of my brain had shut down. 'You'd really shoot him, wouldn't you?'

'What do you think?'

I gave a quick bark of laughter. 'I don't know what I think any more. Here I was, under the _naïve_ impression that you- despite all the criminal activities- were a decent guy. How wrong I was.'

'Wrong?' Jasper echoed. 'Wrong? This whole situation is wrong. If you had of just stayed out of my business, none-'

'It's my job! Ok? My bloody job!'

'So?' He was shouting at me now, the hand holding the gun wobbling. Poor Alex looked petrified, his whole body tensed, his face frozen.

I needed something, _anything_, that would make him think about what he was about to do.

'Think of Georgia. And Roxy. Think of what you went through.' I paused, giving him time to let the words sink in and register. Mu voice dropped in volume as his shoulders slumped. 'Do you really want to out other people through that?'

Jasper's gaze fell to the ground and when he finally did look up and meet my eyes, the blinded rage had completely disappeared. His head turned in the direction of Harry's body and a single tear trailed slowly down his cheek and dripped of the end of his jaw.

'I'm so sorry,' he whispered, the words barely audible. 'I'm so sorry.'

Now just a couple of feet away from Jasper, I reached out a hand. 'Give me the gun, Jasper. It's all over.'

'I beg to differ.'

I jumped, the voice definitely not that of a singing fat lady. Sauntering out of the shadows was a tall, stocky guy, his eyes hidden behind dark glasses, his short black hair imitating a shaved porcupine. Pale lips twitched into a tight smile as he took in the scene.

Jasper's reaction to the arrival of Mr Mystery was odd. He looked elated, the guilty, then terrified, then mad and then he started all over again. Who was this guy and what was he doing on the level two car park of an almost complete mall?

'Jasper Price. And I had such high hopes for you.' The man sounded disappointed. I hated the fact that I couldn't see his eyes. It creeped me out and made me feel unsure and insecure.

'C-Colin,' Jasper finally stuttered.

My eyes popped open wide. _This_ was Colin? _The _Colin. Jasper's old boss Colin. The head guy Colin? My mental party ended abruptly as I realised he would most likely be armed and extremely dangerous. Great. Just when things were looking up.

'You weren't about to give the young lady the gun now, were you, Jas?' Despite being just a few years older than Jasper, Colin definitely had the upper hand here. It was painfully clear who was under who.

'N-no.' Jasper gulped, his hand snaking back to his side like a turtle retreating into its shell.

Colin put his hand out. 'May I?'

Nodding, Jasper handed the gun to Colin and stepped back, turning his back on us. Colin looked over the gun, then pointed it at me.

No!' someone shouted from behind me as I closed my eyes, cringing, expecting to have the gun fired at any second.

'Untie your friend.' Colin's sounded amused.

I cranked open one eyelid and peered at him. 'Huh?'

'Your friend. The blonde one with all the ropes wrapped around him. Untie him, then stand next to each other and be quiet.'

Confused, I did just that. Alex was shaking and I had to keep a firm grip on his arm while we stood quietly.

'You three Muppets at the back,' Colin called to Hex, Li and Paulo. 'Come and join the party.'

They scurried towards Alex and I and the five of us bunched together, waiting for Colin's next instructions.

'Jas?' Colin said.

Jasper jumped. 'Yes, sir?'

'Go get the van ready. We'll take this lot back with us.'

'What about...' Jasper's eyes darted left and right '...the bomb?'

Shrugging, Colin answered: 'Another time, Jas. Maybe we'll abandon it all together. Who knows? Let's just go with the flow, yeah?'

Jasper nodded, caught the set of keys Colin chucked at him and disappeared off to get the van.

Pointing the gun at us, Colin nodded in the direction that Jasper had went in. 'Get moving.'

We had no choice but to obey. I cast one, last look towards Harry's body and fought back the wave of tears threatening to spill over again.

_I'm sorry, Harry. _


	15. Crumblin' Down

**Chapter Fifteen: Crumblin' Down**

A short man with a beer gut, stubble and an unlit cigarette hanging out of the corner of his mouth glared at us with narrowed eyes. I shivered and inched closer to Hex. He looked a bit surprised before taking hold of my hand and smiling reassuringly. I felt slightly better, but only slightly. We were still in a terrible and potentially deadly situation that could easily spiral out of control at any moment.

I knew almost nothing about Colin and his personality, apart from what Jasper had told me and what little had come up when Alex had done a quick search weeks ago. Jasper... I thought I'd known Jasper quite well, considering the short time I'd known him for, but obviously not. He was standing beside Colin, twitching and fidgeting, his expression constantly changing, looking slightly insane. Any sympathy, guilt or understanding I'd felt towards him had disappeared as soon as I'd seen Harry's body. While I had no doubt that it _had_ been an accident, all I now felt when I looked at Jasper was hate. Pure and simple.

'Shane?' Colin said suddenly, turning to the beer gut guy.

'Yes, sir,' Shane replied in a gravelly voice.

While Colin pointed the gun in our general direction, Shane bound our wrists together with short lengths of coarse rope. I wiggled my wrists experimentally and the rope chaffed my skin, making me wince. Colin coughed and looked at me pointedly, waggling the gun. I stopped, scowled and tilted my chin up haughtily.

Colin chuckled. 'You're quite the character, aren't you?'

When I didn't answer or even respond in any way, he sighed and shrugged. Shane finished tying Paulo's wrists and took the gun from Colin.

'In the van,' he barked, jerking a thumb at the mentioned object.

Li, the closest to the van out of us, hesitated, then did as she had been instructed. Paulo followed, huddling in the far corner of the van with Li. Alex went next, then me and finally Hex. While there was more than enough room for us to spread out, we opted for a tight bunch in the corner.

For a few minutes there was relative silence, broken only by the occasional scuff of shoes on gravel outside, a cough and murmured words that I couldn't make out. Then a door slammed shut, the van shuddered and rolled forward. At almost the same time, there was a louder roar and tyres spinning on the gravel. So, someone hadn't got in the front of the van. But who? Jasper, Colin or Shane? Who did I want it to be?

'Alex?' Li's soft voice dragged me back. 'Are you ok?'

I looked sideways to see Alex sitting with his knees drawn up to his chest, his arms around them, head resting on his knees. Without looking up, he nodded.

'Are you sure?' Paulo leaned forward slightly, his voice concerned.

As Alex nodded again, it hit me.

'It's not your fault,' I said, feeling tears well up again. 'Please believe that, Alex.'

Alex's head slowly came up. His eyes were red, tears drying on his cheeks. 'I- I told him he should try and get the other gun. Jasper spotted him and...' He trailed off, distraught.

'Oh, Alex.' With my wrists tied together, giving him a hug was going to be almost impossible, so I put my hands over his instead. 'You're not to blame. For _any_ of this. Harry wouldn't have listened to you unless he was going to do it anyway.' I tried to smile. 'You know what he was like.'

Sniffing, Alex returned my weak smile. It felt weird, him needing our comfort. Alex was the strong one, the leader.

'What happened?' Hex asked into the silence.

I whipped back around to face him, my expression screaming _No_.

Giving a tiny shake of his head, Hex shuffled around me so he was facing Alex. 'We were worried sick, mate,' he continued. 'You weren't answering your phone. Where were you?'

Shutting his eyes for a moment, Alex eventually answered in a small voice thick with tears: 'Harry and I went around to Amber's mission flat to have a look-see. Just to be on the safe side. We didn't find anything useful, but just as we were thinking of leaving, Jasper arrived. He held us at gunpoint and took us out the back way of the flats. We got in his car, Harry driving while Jasper sat in the back seat with the gun. When we got to the shopping centre he took us down to the car park, tied us up and left. I don't know how long he was gone, but when he came back he saw Harry trying to get the second gun out of the bag Jasper had left and-' Alex faltered, sniffed, then went on '-Harry was shot. A while later you guys showed up and here we are.'

There was a pause as we all absorbed what Alex had just told us.

'Jasper will pay for what he's done. Don't you worry, Alex,' Hex said. 'He'll pay.'

* * *

Valerie wrung her hands nervously, her gaze fixed on Nancy's face. With a sigh, Nancy hung up and dropped the phone back on the desk.

'Nothing?' Valerie asked, though the look on Nancy's face explained the answer clearly.

'Nothing. I'm really worried, Val. It's not like Harry to just disappear like this.'

'Do you think he's with Alex?' Tapping her fingernails on the desk top, Valerie stared into space as though the answer would appear before her. 'Because, if he _is_, there might be a valid reason why he's not answering our calls.'

'But what if there isn't a valid reason? What if they've both been abducted?'

Valerie stood up and gently but firmly pushed Nancy back into her seat, handing her the cup of tea she'd barely looked at, let alone started drinking. They'd been a few rumours about that there was something going on between Harry and Nancy, but Valerie, never the gossip queen, had ignored them all. Now, looking at her friend's expression, her shaking hands and the tears threatening to spill down her cheeks at any second, Valerie started to think that maybe the rumours were true.

'Shhhhh, Nancy. It'll be fine. Everything will sort itself out.'

* * *

We arrived in a dumpy part of town and pulled up at an equally dumpy set of flats. Shane cracked open the van's doors and grunted at us to get out.

'Would saying _please_ kill you? Or is that too much to hope for?' Hex, once again, being a bloody smart ass.

Shane's left eye twitched and he took a fairly aggressive step towards Hex, but Jasper coming around the side of the van haltered him in mid-stride. So Colin had left in the other car. Hmmm...

'Chill,' Jasper said, not making it clear who the request was for. On the plus side, Jasper seemed to have lost the psychotic aura and he looked relatively collected, calm and in control. I still thought it would be best to not stir the pot at all and gave Hex a gentle kick in the shin as a familiar expression crept onto his face. He rolled his eyes and kicked me back, but didn't say anything.

'Follow me.' Handing Jasper another gun, Shane set off for the fire escape stairs at the back of the flats.

All was quiet and there looked to be no one around, but, when we started up the first flight of stairs, I saw some curtains twitch on the fourth floor. People who knew when it wise to keep their mouths and eyes shut.

Shane pushed open the door of a flat on the top floor and we filed inside.

'Make yourselves at home,' Jasper said, sounding just like a gracious host. He made a beeline for the tiny kitchen and poured himself a glass of water. 'Don't bother shouting for help; no one will pay any attention,' he added, proving my early thoughts correct.

'What do you plan on doing with us?' Paulo asked, sitting on the sofa. 'Someone is going to notice that we're all missing soon.'

Jasper didn't answer, just kept sipping the water and watching us over the rim of the glass.

* * *

'Shit.' Mara kicked the edge of the desk. She had a quick temper and the current situation wasn't making it any easier for her to keep calm. Neil, sitting just centimetres from where Mara had kicked, flinched and scooted his chair further backwards.

'Why the _hell_ did this have to happen?' Mara snapped. 'Now we've got _six_ officers missing and no logical explanation for any of them.'

'Getting all worked up about it isn't going to help, Mara,' Neil said, trying to inject some calm into the room. What with Nancy being on the verge of hysteria, Valerie's distracted anxiety and Mara's volatile temper, he was feeling utterly choked. 'We need to think about this logically.'

'There _is_ nothing logical about this situation,' Nancy cried. 'Amber's mission ended. Price should have been picked up and charged. Why have we instead got Harry, Amber, Hex, Li, Alex and Paulo missing and no Price?'

Neil opened his mouth to answer but the arrival of Maggie Walker, flying into the room in a frantic rush stopped him.

'You better come quick. We've found Harry.'

**A/N Two more chapters after this most likely. The last one should be lovely and slow. :)**


	16. Free To Decide

**Chapter Sixteen: Free To Decide**

Jasper was sitting on the balcony, huddled up and staring out through the railings. I chewed my lip, wondering whether going out there and talking to him would be a good idea or not. Still undecided, I stood slowly, my eyes fixed on Jasper's back.

'Don't even think about it,' Hex said suddenly, latching onto my arm. 'You're just asking for trouble.'

Well. That made my mind up for me.

'I think I'm old enough to make my own choices, Hex,' I snapped, shaking his hand off and starting for the door.

'Amber!' The panic in Hex's voice almost made me stop and turn around, but I wasn't going to give in. I'm nothing if not stubborn.

I bumped the glass door open and stepped out onto the balcony. As I turned to slide it shut again, I saw Li sitting next to Hex, watching him closely. I mentally thanked her and then glared at Hex, even though he wasn't looking at me. Of all the nerve…

'Hey.' I sat down next to Jasper and drew my knees up to my chest.

He looked sideways at me, not seeming surprised to find me sitting there. 'Hey.'

We sat in a silence that was neither comfortable nor awkward until I grew sick of it.

'Penny for your thoughts?'

Jasper didn't answer straight away, just kept staring out across the park and towards the flat blocks in the distance. 'Am I a bad person?'

'I don't know,' I said finally, after minutes of careful thought. 'I really don't know. You buy and sell drugs that ruin people's lives. You injure and kill people if they get in your way or you think they might be a threat. You killed my boss and you were thinking of doing the same to one of my best friends. You kidnapped me and ordered my murder. Do you think you're a bad person?'

There was a sigh and Jasper looked away. I could almost hear the clogs churning in his brain. For a little while we sat, just looking out at the mundane view. My head was just about empty of thoughts, but Jasper's obviously wasn't.

'Annie, you know how you keep telling me that what you did, what you're doing, it's you job? You're just doing your job?'

I nodded.

'I'm just doing my job too. We're not that different, you know.'

'Jasper… That- I'm working _with_ the law to try and stop and people like you from-'

'But that's _your_ opinion of the law. That's _your_ opinion on what's right and what's wrong. If you had the same views as me, if you had the same upbringing as me, you'd think the same.'

'I would've thought that your upbringing, seeing the things you did and having to live through the things you did, you'd have seen sense, that maybe that isn't the right way of looking at life.' I shook my head in disbelief. 'You're out of your mind to even suggest that.'

'What gives you the right to dictate what the correct way to see life is, huh? As much as you'd like to think it, Annie, you're not the bloody leader of the universe. Why don't you stop thinking of yourself and start trying to see things from other people's perspectives.' Jasper got up angrily. He'd probably have walked away and that would've been the end of it, but no. I had to go and open my big mouth; I had to have the last word.

'You're the one who doesn't think of others, Jasper. You've killed how many people? Left how many families grief stricken? Even when you've experienced what having someone you love die at the hands of someone else is like.'

So quick I didn't even have time to register what was happening, Jasper had swung back around, grabbed the collar of my shirt and pushed me back against the railing. The top half of my body dangled over the edge, the only thing holding me back was Jasper's grip on my shirt. I heard a shout from inside the flat and people getting up, but the only thing I could see was Jasper's face, his expression murderous.

* * *

Harry's body was removed from the car park on a stretcher, his whole body covered in a blanket. Valerie stood with Nancy, holding her friend up as she wept. Mara trotted about, flitting around the low level, her eyes sweeping the ground for any clues, while Neil, his face thoughtful, stood in the shadows.

'Val.' Mara appeared at Valerie's elbow, Neil just a few paces behind. 'I think Price has the others.' She dangled a Swiss army knife in a plastic bag from her fingertips. 'Alex's. We found it down near where-'

'Yeah. Ok,' Valerie said hurriedly before Mara could mention Harry. 'But Alex wasn't Hex, Li, Paulo or Amber.'

'I just found a text on my phone.' Pulling her mobile out of her pocket, Mara flicked through the messages until she came to the relevant one. 'Sent about an hour ago. "Need backup. J lost it. New shops. Quick."'

Looking up, Mara handed the phone to Valerie. She quickly read the text and handed the phone back to Mara.

'But that doesn't explain where they are now or what Price is planning on doing with them. If he _has_ lost it like Li says, they're in serious danger,' Valerie said, clicking her nails together anxiously.

Neil opened his mouth, but was cut of by a burst of radio chatter from a police officer standing nearby. As one, Neil, Mara and Valerie looked at the officer, then at each other. Maggie arrived and a still shaking Nancy was handed to her.

'Where're you lot going?' Maggie called as the three officers hurried for Neil's car.

'We know where they are,' Mara answered over her shoulder, adding under her breath, 'Please let us get there in time.'

* * *

The sliding door opened and Jasper panicked, his grip loosening on my collar.

'Get back,' he yelled. 'Come any closer and I'll drop her.'

'Jasper, please-' Li began.

I cut her off with a strangled, '_Now_, Li.'

The sounds of them shuffling back made Jasper's grip on my collar tighten again and I started to breathe easier again. Judging by the lack of scraping sounds, they'd left the door open and I would have bet money on them not having retreated back too far. I wondered briefly where Shane was and then decided I didn't really care.

'Jasper,' I said slowly. 'Jasper listen to me.'

His eyes flickered to mine.

'You let go of me, I've just been proved right. You let go of me, your jail sentence will be increased even more.'

'I'm not going to jail.'

'Oh, wake up and smell the coffee,' I snapped. 'Of course you're going to jail. The police will find where we've gone and-'

Speak of the devil. The distant wail of sirens had been just about tuned out of my mind, but when the wails suddenly doubled in volume and cop cars squealed to a halt below us, their presence was pushed to the front of my brain again. I could hear yelling and doors slamming. Jasper whimpered and started to loosen his grip on me again.

'Jasper!' I yelped.

He grabbed me again, staring at me with wide, terrified eyes.

I stared back. 'It's over, Jasper.'

**

* * *

**

A/N One more chapter to go :( Don't expect anything exciting next chapter, but do expect a load of dialogue. I think there will also be quite a long author's note so you've got a lot to look forward to :) I'll try and get the chapter up soonish; it's about a quarter done already and I have a homework free week.

**Emmalea xxx**


	17. Bed Of Roses

**Chapter Seventeen: Bed Of Roses**

Sitting on the couch in Li's living room, I drained what remained of my hot chocolate and set the mug on the coffee table. I shivered, even though the heater was turned on and I was wearing a sweater and jeans. Harry's funeral had been the day before and I think we were all still in shock over it. There'd been so many people there, all crying and sniffling. The day had been cold and overcast with a light drizzle constantly present. Perfect funeral weather, just as it should have been. I don't know if I'd have been able to stand it if the clouds had parted and the sun had shone. While I was no stranger to death, it never got any easier. Harry hadn't just been my boss. He'd been a friend and very close to a father figure to not only me but to my friends and the other junior officers. And now he was dead.

Jasper had been arrested and whisked away in a police car. It was almost hard to believe that this time last week I'd been just his grip on my shirt away from falling to my death. I was still confused over what I felt in relation to Jasper. While there was definitely a lot of hatred, I found it hard to completely despise him. After getting to know him and spending so much time with him, I'd come to realise how tough his life had been. While I didn't understand how he could bring himself to do some of the things he'd done, I did have some sympathy for him, although it was deeply hidden.

Li came back into the room, plopping down onto the sofa next to me. 'What're you thinking about?'

'A bit of everything,' I answered vaguely. I didn't want to talk about it. What I was feeling was too complicated to put into words, too complicated to share with anyone else.

'Are you sure you don't want to talk about anything? You know I'm always here, Amber.'

I smiled at Li. 'Thanks, but really, I'm ok.'

I found it quite amazing how different we were. While I kept everything in, sorted through all my emotions in my head and hated expressing them out loud, Li would almost always talk, usually in a jumbled mess, her thoughts tripping over each other in a rush to be heard first. Just after we'd been taken back to Headquarters from the flat, I'd heard Li crying and found her babbling away to Paulo at a million miles an hour. I'd sat quietly, holding back the urge to cry. Alex had just disappeared, turning up an hour later with red eyes and a box of tissues. As usual, Hex had just carried on like nothing had happened, although I did catch him blinking a bit more rapidly than was normal.

'Oh, Amber.' Li suddenly had the box of tissues under my nose. 'You're not ok, are you?'

Without even realising it, tears had started to slide down my cheeks. I wiped them angrily away and refused the offered box.

'Is it Harry you're so upset about? Jasper? Just remember what he's done, Amber,' Li said, her voice turning bitter as she said Jasper's name.

'He's not that bad, Li. If you'd known him better…' I trailed off, grabbing a tissue and dabbing at my eyes. 'Yeah, ok, he's done some _horrible_ things lately, but does he really deserve a life sentence?'

It was going to be a while before Jasper was taken to court and sentenced, but apparently he was going to plead guilty and the evidence was stacking up. There was almost no doubt that Jasper would spend the rest of his days in prison, something I knew he was going to have trouble with.

Li looked at me critically. 'Why are you so upset? Did Jasper really mean that much to you? I thought you loved Hex?'

'I do, but-' I broke off, kicking myself for what I'd just said. Damn Li. I'd walked straight into her trap.

A huge grin lit up Li's face. 'Finally,' she said, dragging each syllable out. 'An actual straightforward answer.'

Looking at Li's euphoric face, I suddenly found myself saying 'Great, Li. Grab a megaphone and proclaim it to the world. Turn it into a flippin' musical. Why the hell are you making such a big deal?'

'Because you're in denial,' Li said matter-of-factly. 'Had you come out with the truth straight away you could have saved yourself from years of awkwardness.' She waggled a finger at me. 'Silly Amber.'

I was searching for an appropriate and snappy comeback when the door crashed open and Alex, Hex and Paulo barged their way into Li's flat.

'Knocking is nice,' Li commented drily as they joined us in the lounge room.

Paulo flopped into the armchair, shrugging. 'Why bother?'

Seeing that all the available chair space was filled, Alex lay down on the rug while Hex snagged the multi-coloured bean bag in the corner.

'What have you two been up to?' Hex asked.

I shot Li a warning look but she wasn't facing me. Casually, I shuffled closer to her so I could accidentally on purpose thump her shoulder should the need arise.

'Oh, this and that. Chatting, etcetera.'

'What about?' this was Alex, who'd rolled on to his stomach, chin resting on his folded arms.

'You know. Usual stuff,' Li answered.

'What's usual stuff?' asked Paulo.

'Why the sudden interest?' I said, sharper than I intended. 'We were talking about trivial junk. End of story. New topic, please.'

They shared a look and then shrugged a one.

'Fine,' Alex said. 'What topic.'

'Anything. I don't care.' I leant back and closed my eyes.

There was the sound of the bean bag rustling before, 'You ok, Amber?'

Because my eyes were closed, I could do nothing to stop the images that immediately marched into my head,

'Shut up,' I growled, my eyes snapping open as I leapt to my feet. 'Why does everyone insist on asking me how I'm coping? I'm _fine_.'

'You know, it's not a good idea to bottle everything up,' Li said hesitantly.

Whether the choice of words was deliberate or not, I don't know. But I lost it. Too much had happened. Everything was way too complicated. Tears threatening to spill down my cheeks, I rushed out of the room, heading for the back door and the relative safety of outside.

* * *

The night was cloudy but here and there a tiny star broke through. I sat on the grass, knees drawn up to my chest, head tilted back slightly as I gazed at the sky.

'Over reaction much.'

'Go away, Hex.' I forced the words through clenched teeth, but they lacked any anger as I was sort of glad he'd followed me outside.

He ignored me, walking around and standing in front of me, head tilted slightly and holding his hand out. 'Come on.'

'Where are we going?'

He shrugged and pulled me to my feet. 'Walk?'

* * *

'Do you want to talk about anything in particular?'

We were sitting on a park bench, a lamp lighting up the immediate area with a soft, yellow glow.

I thought about what Hex had just said. Did I want to talk about anything? Well, there was one thing but I wasn't going to bring it up. 'No,' I said eventually. 'It's just… I don't know, hard to talk about. Do you know what I mean?'

'Yeah. There's actually quite a few things that're hard to talk about.'

I nodded, looking back at the sky again. 'It's amazing, isn't it?'

'What?'

'All that.' I waved a hand at the sky.

'There are more stars in the sky than grains of sand on the beach.'

'Really?' He nodded and I looked back up at the sky. 'I didn't know that. It makes us seem so insignificant, doesn't it?'

'Mmm…' Hex murmured. 'There's heaps you don't know.'

An argument. Finally, something normal for a change.

'Oh yeah?' I retorted. 'Like what?'

'Are we sticking with the universe theme or what?'

'I don't mind.'

Hex grinned. 'Well then. You don't know that the star Alpha Herculis is twenty five times larger than the circumference described by the earth's revolution around the sun, which means that twenty five diameters of our solar orbit would have to be placed end to end to equal the diameter of this star.'

'Well…'

'What about space vehicles? A space vehicle has to move at a rate of seven miles per second to escape the earth's gravitational pull. That's equivalent to going from New York to Philadelphia in a bout twenty seconds.' He looked at me with a smirk. 'Anything else you want to know?'

_Yeah. One or two things, like what the hell happened at the end of our last mission. _'Nope. I think my brain's full of useless information now.'

We lapsed back into a silence I found incredibly uncomfortable.

'Hey, Amber. I- I need to tell you something.'

'Is it more random universe facts?'

'Ah… Not exactly. Look, I've been trying to say this for God knows how long, but- What I mean is- I-' Hex stopped and bit his lip, thinking, then pulled his palmtop from its pouch on his belt. 'I think you should check your emails.'

I was baffled by the sudden subject change. 'What?'

Hex pressed the tiny computer into my hands, stood up and started to walk away. 'Just check them.'

Slightly annoyed at being bossed around, I was also curious. I'd checked my emails just a few hours ago; Hex had been there when I'd done it and any way, what was the urgency? Slowly I lifted the lid of the palmtop.

* * *

Half an hour later, Hex wandered back, his expression wary. 'Anything interesting?'

I avoided his eyes and handed the computer back. 'One or two things.'

He sat down next to me and put the palmtop away. 'So…'

'What were you talking about?' Curiosity got the better of me. 'About humans being so weak.'

'I, ah, wrote that a while ago actually.'

'Oh,' I said, feeling slightly overwhelmed. 'You- you wrote that when you were trapped in the museum, didn't you? In Belize.'

Hex nodded, looking cautiously sideways at me. 'How are you reacting? I can't really tell.'

I smiled suddenly, surprising even myself. 'Do you want me to tell you? Or show you?'

Hex returned my grin. 'If I'm not about to get slapped, I'd prefer the latter.'

* * *

**FOUR MONTHS LATER**

I sat down in the hard plastic chair, unsure how I was feeling. My visit here was meant to be official, but in reality I just needed answers. The one person I wanted to talk to, the one person I wanted to talk about what I was feeling with, the very person who'd caused me all this heartache.

'Jasper,' I said coolly.

'Annie.' He nodded at me through the Perspex. I'd never been Amber Middleton to him, always Annie Hamilton and I'd accepted the fact that that was never going to change.

'How are you?'

'What do you think? I'm in prison.' Jasper's voice was bitter, his face hard.

'And whose fault is that?' I snapped. 'You need to start taking responsibility for your actions, Jasper. Grow up.'

'I _am_ taking responsibility. I'm serving a life sentence.'

'So? Do you really care about the people whose lives you've broken? God, Jasper, you be grateful that there's a wall between us.' Seeing Jasper again, talking to him, I once again felt the sympathy drain away. I stood up, more than ready to leave and regretting even coming here.

'Wait!' Jasper called. 'Please.'

I half turned, took in Jasper's pleading expression, saw the hurt in his eyes, heard the desperation in his words.

'I'm sorry, Jasper. You were right. We're from different worlds just about. I can't forgive you for what you've done.' I took a deep breath, a twinge of guilt and hurt creeping up on me. 'Goodbye.'

I hurried through all the security, all of it just a blur. Outside, Hex was sitting in the car waiting for me.

'That was quick,' he remarked with surprise as I collapsed into the passenger seat.

'Wasn't much to say.' I shrugged and smiled. A genuine, happy smile. 'Let's just get out of here. Li will kill us if we're late.'

As Hex pulled out of the parking space and we drove through the streets of London, I leaned back and closed my eyes. Talking to Jasper had lifted a weight off my chest, even though I'd barely said a thing. Although I knew it would take a while for me to get over the events of our last mission, I at least felt that now I had a chance of being ready to tackle something else in the future. With my head free of worry and doubts for the moment, I looked out the window, once again my eyes travelling upwards.

_The sky's the limit. _

* * *

**A/N And it's done. ****My last Alpha Force fic for the next few months. Hope you all liked it and I really hope that I got Amber and Hex right in this chapter. I'm now moving to WEbook for a bit as I have an idea or two for original stories that I want to do. But I will be back! In fact, I have two ideas for long Alpha Force fics starting to formulate in my head. One is set after this one and will be the fourth and final episode in my What Happened Next? series. The other one is a completely unrelated fic that I've had swimming around in my head for a while now. I will be planning and researching for these two over the next few months and maybe writing a bit for them as well, but I just wanted to know what you guys want me to write first. Do you want a break from "grown up" Alpha Force or not? I'll also be looking for a beta for these two fics as well, as I really want to make them tip top. **

**Thank you to every single person, once again. When my inspiration pot runs dry, the reviews you guys send are just the thing to keep me going. Thank you especially to lepidopteron, who unfailingly reviewed every single chapter I put up. Your reviews always made my day :) Thanks also to be-nice-to-nerds and spinkle22 for your reviews as well. **

**So, as my final (for the moment) Alpha Force fic comes to a close, I just want to remind everyone of the Challenge and Pass The Story sections in the AF forums. Go and check them out guys! They're really great. be-nice-to-nerds recently proposed three awesome challenges and there are quite a few older ones as well. **

**Emmalea xxx**


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